Accessible North Yorkshire
What is Accessible North Yorkshire?
Accessible North Yorkshire is an information-led scheme to encourage the provision of easy to reach accessibility facts, via a recognisable county-wide logo, for customers of North Yorkshire businesses and organisations.
Aims:
-to help customers find accessibility information more easily on websites and at premises; and
-to help businesses reach, understand, and cater to the widest range of customers.
This is not a Charter mark or assessment of provision, and the aim is not to replace or duplicate existing important accessibility schemes, more to bring information together in one place.
Background:
Inspired originally by the Government’s stated aim to make the UK the most Accessible place in the world, the reorganisation of local government and the establishment of the Mayoral Combined Authority was seen as an opportunity to put North Yorkshire in the forefront of this ambition.
In early 2024, a working group comprising North Yorkshire Disability Forums, town Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and North Yorkshire Council Public Health, Economic Development, and Tourism teams was formed.
The group recognised that, with a number of successful accessibility information schemes already in place, and information provided by some businesses in different ways, there was a need to bring this together under one recognisable logo.
The aim is to make finding information easier for residents and visitors and to make providing accessibility information easier for businesses. The scheme is in its early stages and is currently being trialled in Skipton. Any customer facing business or organisation in North Yorkshire can take part and there is a toolkit to help with this.
Trialling the approach:
As a trial from Spring 2025, businesses within the Ripon area will have support from Ripon Disability Forum (RDF). This will be in the form of distinctive ‘Accessible Ripon’ logos in shop windows together with a QR code which will link the visitor to further accessibility information via the RDF website. The logo indicates that there is further accessibility information available which can be found via the QR code and the RDF website and, where space allows, a seat.
Participating premises with a listing on the Visit North Yorkshire website, who have provided a link to their accessibility details, will feature the Accessible North Yorkshire icon which, with one click, will lead customers to this information.
In the future, anyone will be able to use a search option on the Visit North Yorkshire website to find accessibility information.
In the shorter term, participating businesses will undertake to be responsible for:
– providing a page of information which shares their accessibility information including, for visitable premises, a picture of exit/entry points as a minimum, a warm welcome and, where space allows, a seat.
– uploading listing details on the Visit North Yorkshire (VNY) website where their customers form part of the Visitor Economy
– providing a clear and obvious route to their accessibility information either from QR codes in shop windows or via the Accessible North Yorkshire Information icon from the front page of their website or social media pages.
How to take part
Access, download, and read the free Accessible North Yorkshire – toolkit for businesses
Toolkit contents
In the toolkit you will find:
– an introduction and explanation,
– example accessibility information pdfs and web pages,
– image library you can freely use,
– logos and icons for your website
– brand guidelines for using the logos and icons
– social media asset examples, wording, hashtags [#accessible north Yorkshire]
– example press release (s)
– example staff explanation/crib sheet for counter/staff lanyards
Complementary accessibility schemes
If you are interested in sharing your accessibility information widely, excellent schemes already exist.
Accessible North Yorkshire is designed to signpost people to all accessibility information available. The schemes below are widely used by disabled people to find out more information.
If you use any of these organisations to help you promote the features of your premises, then you can create links from your Accessible North Yorkshire Information Page (see our example pages in the toolkit).
Create and use a Visit England & AccessAble Access Guide and Profile
Visit England and AccessAble have teamed up to provide a service that allows you to showcase your accessibility information for those who need it most. AccessAble provide Detailed Access Guides which allow businesses to provide their customers with comprehensive accessibility information to allow users to make an informed decision when visiting. A cost is attached to obtaining a guide and this is dependent upon the type and size of your business. Contact them directly for a quote specific to your needs.se for this heavily reduced rate if it is a micro-business. There are also reduced rates for larger businesses.
Click link above to visit the site.
Use Euan’s guide to list your business
Euan’s Guide (supported by Motability) provides a free facility for businesses to create and share an accessibility guide on their website. This is open to any business, venue, or site no matter the size. Euan’s Guide was created and run by Euan (a man with Motor Neurone Disease) and his sister and is now a national operation. It is funded entirely by donations from charities and the lottery.
Click link above to visit the site.
Create a profile with Nimbus Disability & Accept the Access Card
Nimbus Disability offer a card that allows users to show verified access needs that event providers, attractions, venues, and locations can recognise and accept across the UK and beyond. Businesses can upload a promotional profile of their organisation for free on the condition that they share access information and/or discounts for disabled customers. Nimbus can also offer ‘paid for, training and accreditation for businesses.
Click link above to visit the site.
Contact Disability Action Yorkshire, Harrogate
Disability Action Yorkshire are a charity and social enterprise, providing services that create opportunities for disabled people to live the lifestyle of their choosing. They can:
- Provide free advice on simple ways to make your business more accessible.
- Provide your staff with disability awareness sessions, mainly by those who can give a first-hand account of what would make their lives easier.
- Help you upload information to Euan’s Guide (see above) – this is the most commonly used disabled access review website for people to discover accessible places to visit and leave reviews.
Click link above to visit the site.
Further Support and Contacts
Contact Disability Action Yorkshire on 01423 855 410 or by email at admin@da-y.org.uk who will help you with advice and information on how to communicate with customers on what you currently have as well as how to begin to take steps to start to improve your accessibility offer.
Contact Skipton BID on info@skiptonbid.com
Contact Ripon Disability Forum (RDF) on ripondisabilityforum@gmail.com
Contact Visit North Yorkshire on Biz@visitnorthyorkshire.com