Show you deserve market share with universal access
By Robert Kobek, RRP – [email protected]
On Site – Universal Access
Being accessible to your customers has a significant impact on your profit. In recent blogs, I’ve talked about the importance of ease of access to your business with direct contact through internet and phone. The way you make use of them impact your credibility and your profit. Accessibility is not just the ease of which your customers can contact you, but it also means Universal Access, ease of access to your property’s facilities for all customers. Your ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibilities must be up to standard and your website W3C/ADA accessible and compliant.
Does Your Resort Meet Universal Access Standards?
Among other things, the ADA ensures that access to the built environment is accessible to all people with disabilities. The ADA Standards establish design requirements for the construction and alteration of facilities subject to the law.
How many times did a guest not stay at your resort because your ADA accessibility standards were not up to par? Carol Pezzarossi, PhD and regular vacation traveler says, “Universal Access is one of the top reasons people with disabilities select where they are going to vacation.”
And, she points out, “retrofitting your buildings is significantly more expensive than doing it right the first time.”
An Untapped Market
People with disabilities, physical or mental, that affect one or more major life activities, such as walking, bathing, dressing, eating, preparing meals, going outside the home, or doing housework, represent 19 percent of the civilian non-institutionalized population. (U.S. Census Bureau News, Profile America Facts for Features: CB15-FF.10). This is one huge market—mostly untapped and created by the government. Whether you like it or not, you must comply. By complying, you are more accessible; thereby more credible; and thereby more profitable.
Contact me in you would like more information on how to measure your accessibility standards.