The nationwide initiative already has over 130 independent venues signed up plus national chains such as Caffè Nero, Strada and Barclays Bank are also involved. Further information is available of events taking place on the day. Disabled Access Day will share top things to do in London, Edinburgh, Wales and the North East as well as a list of the great museums, galleries and theatres taking part.

A recent survey by Euan’s Guide found 98% of disabled people, their friends, families and carers would be likely to return to places that have good accessibility. For venues this is the perfect day to showcase their accessibility to disabled visitors and it’s not too late to sign up! For more information, please visit www.disabledaccessday.com.

More information about how organisations and individuals can take part in Disabled Access Day 2016 will be available frequently leading up to the event. Please keep checking the website for further details and updates or you can also join their newsletter via the website above.

For 82% of respondents, deciding whether or not to visit somewhere new was a result of searching for disabled access information online. This suggests that venues wanting to increase their popularity should ensure their websites are easy to navigate and that visitors can find disabled access information easily, including whether or not they will be able to use an accessible toilet either at or nearby the venue.

Also identified in the survey were the key things disabled people, their friends, families and carers considered before trying a new venue:

• 90% of respondents cared about knowing whether they could get into or around the venue
• Nearby parking or good public transport links was important for 93% of people
• For 70%, knowing that staff were friendly and helpful was also an influence

The survey revealed the types of venues that people felt had typically good accessibility including cinemas and theatres, museums and art galleries, as well as hospitals and healthcare venues. To increase popularity, venues should consider the following findings:

• 71% of respondents said they returned to the same places because they were confident they would get in and be able to use accessible toilets
• 70% were more likely to try somewhere new if it had been recommended by someone with similar requirements
• 71% felt it was important to see pictures and reviews prior to visiting somewhere new

Euan MacDonald, co-founder of the disabled access reviews website EuansGuide.com, said “The importance of accurate access information continues to gain wide recognition, but there is still work to be done. This survey has proven that and shows that if the right information is on offer, disabled customers, their families and friends will come back. But if not, venues, brands and retailers are set to miss out on a larger customer base as well as the spending power of the 11 million disabled people across the UK.”

Venues and retailers will have an opportunity on Disabled Access Day (12^th March 2016) to show their commitment to accessibility.

The day which is sponsored by Euan’s Guide aims to encourage disabled people to visit a venue they’ve not visited before, whether that’s a coffee shop, cinema, local visitor attraction or anywhere else. With 86% of people claiming they are ‘very likely’ to return to a venue with good accessibility, it’s a great day for venues to build positive relationships with disabled people, their friends and family and access the ‘purple pound’ market worth an estimated £212 billion according to DWP figures. For more information please visit www.disabledaccessday.com.

The findings of The Access Survey 2015 were primarily from disabled people and their families (80%). The remainder was a combination of carers, friends, social workers and healthcare professionals.

The annual Disabled Access Day is set for its second year on 12^th March 2016 and aims to encourage disabled people, their friends and families to visit somewhere new. Over 100 venues across the UK, including Kensington Palace, the Millennium Stadium and the Scottish Parliament, have already signed up with plenty of time for more venues to get involved before the day.

Euan’s Guide, the disabled access review website and app, is the lead sponsor of the day, other supporters include VisitEngland, VisitScotland, Caffè Nero, Barclays and restaurant chain Strada. Caffè Nero will be offering a complementary hand crafted coffee at selected stores across the country in support of the day and a number of events, including venue tours, children’s activities and special promotions will be taking place.

Other activities taking place across the UK include guided walks by volunteers at the Sculthorpe Moor Community Nature Reserveusing their newly opened accessible board walk, a relaxed performance of David Walliams’s ‘Gangsta Granny’ at Sheffield Theatre and British Sign Language and Audio Described tours of the Cutty Sark.

The winner of the Euan’s Guide Fringe Award for ‘Accessible Show’, ‘The Solid Life of Sugar Water’ will be on at the National Theatre on Disabled Access Day and they will be running a special ticket offer for people taking part.

The day is being celebrated across the UK with different activities and deals on offer. Disabled Access Day aims to get the 12 million disabled people in the UK to try somewhere new through promoting accessibility and is an important opportunity for retailers.

Kathryn Townsend, Head of Customer and Client Accessibility at Barclays, said: “Disabled Access Day is a fantastic opportunity for businesses to demonstrate how they are accessible to all – whether that’s physical access to a building, or access to virtual channels – like digital, mobile or telephony. At Barclays we actively seek out ground-breaking and innovative solutions to historical barriers. We are thrilled to be participating in Disabled Access Day for a second year and look forward to making it an even bigger event for our customers and colleagues.”

Tom James, Operations Director at Strada, said: “At Strada we are incredibly proud to be involved in Disabled Access Day. We want our restaurants to feel like home and the opportunity to open our doors to more guests who may be coming to visit us for the first time is incredibly exciting. Hospitality is, at its core, about making people happy and all the teams at Strada are relishing the chance to make a special day even more memorable for everyone involved.”

Euan MacDonald, co-founder of the disabled access reviews website EuansGuide.com, the main sponsor of Disabled Access Day, said: “There are around 12 million disabled people in the UK and an estimated 1 billion worldwide. It’s important that we raise awareness of the issue of disabled access and encourage venues to highlight their accessibility on Disabled Access Day. Last year’s event has given us a great foundation to build on but now we have to push on and not only promote accessibility, but highlight the commercial value in catering for the UK’s disabled people and their family, friends and carers.”

Don’t forget to get involved with Disabled Access Day on Saturday 12^th March 2016 and keep an eye out for more special offers set to be announced: http://www.disabledaccessday.com/

 Disabled Access Day

The event aims to encourage disabled people, their friends and families to visit somewhere new and over 50 venues across the UK, including Westminster Abbey, Tate Modern and The Scottish Parliament, have already signed up with almost six months still to go until the day.

Today, Disabled Access Day 2016 will be launched at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh with Maureen Watt MSP, Minister for Public Health, in attendance.  This will mark the beginning of the lead up to the second annual event, building on the fantastic result of 2015 which saw over 200 companies and venues taking part, including VisitScotland, BT, Caffè Nero, Caffé Concerto and Barclays and attracted over 1,000 disabled people and their families, friends and carers.

An overwhelming 94% of disabled people would revisit a venue that has good accessibility, according to a survey carried out by Euan’s Guide the main sponsors of Disabled Access Day. With the UK’s 12 million disabled people estimated to have a combined spending power of over £200 billion, venues with poor disabled access or information are potentially missing out on gaining a significant amount of revenue.

Venues can take part in the 2016 event by hosting an event or simply opening their doors to show that they welcome disabled visitors and their friends and families. Whether it is a cinema, hotel or visitor attraction, there are plenty of ways for businesses to get involved. For further information on how to get involved, please visit: http://www.disabledaccessday.com/get-involved/

Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Business Energy and Tourism, said: “The Scottish Government remains fully committed to ensuring that everyone should have a chance to enjoy all that Scotland has to offer.  That is why I am delighted to be here today to launch the Disabled Access Day – an initiative that continues to position Scotland as a country with world-class tourism facilities, offering more choice as well as excellent customer service.

“Last week I announced that the Scottish Government is providing VisitScotland with a further £38,000 to boost the engagement of disabled and older people in the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.  These funds will support a series of new and enhanced partner projects, each of which will contribute to the wider Accessible Tourism Drive, contributing to the Innovation and Architecture themes of the 2016 year and creating a legacy whose benefits will be felt well into the future as the accessible tourism project rolls-out.”   

Simon Milne MBE, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, said:  “As the number of visitors to our Gardens continues to grow, we are committed to offering the very best welcome to everyone, no matter what their specific needs.  Disabled Access Day is a great opportunity for us to invite even more people to visit us and it’s an honour for us to be hosting the flagship event in Scotland.”

Chris McCoy, Head of VisitScotland’s Accessible Tourism Programme, said: “We are delighted to lend our support to next year’s Disabled Access Day as part of our ongoing Accessible Tourism Programme. I would encourage businesses to sign up to take part as we look to make this country a fully accessible destination. Earlier this year, we worked in partnership with the Royal Yacht Britannia and a number of assistance dog charities to demonstrate the invaluable support these amazing animals provide, and we are looking forward to supporting an equally successful event at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh next March.”

A spokesperson for Caffè Nero, said: “Following the success of Disabled Access Day earlier this year, Caffè Nero is delighted to once again be a part of the national initiative created to raise awareness of the importance of disabled access. We welcomed the feedback received last year which highlighted our stores that have great accessibility, along with the stores where change was required to improve. We took on board all of the response we received last year and we now look forward to seeing lots of new visitors in conjunction with Disabled Access Day in March 2016!”

Euan MacDonald, co-founder of the disabled access reviews website, EuansGuide.com, the main sponsor of Disabled Access Day said, “The success of last year’s event has given us a firm foundation to build on. Not only are we raising awareness of disabled access, but also showcasing the venues with good accessibility and highlighting the commercial value held by the UK’s 12 million disabled people and their family, friends and carers.”

For more information on Disabled Action Day, please visit: www.disabledaccessday.com

Many of the website’s reviewers frequently find that the emergency cord in accessible toilets is hard to reach or is tied up in knots, making it difficult for a disabled person to use the cord to call for assistance. Euan’s Guide has, therefore, designed eye-catching cards that can be attached to the red cord to remind people how important it is that they hang correctly.

To date, 1,500 cards have been requested by venues and reviewers to place in facilities across the country. Over 20 members of the Scottish Parliament have also expressed their support for the Red Cord Campaign, stating that it will help to raise much-needed awareness of the issue.

Euan MacDonald, co-founder of Euan’s Guide, said: “We are delighted that so many people have requested a card to hang on the emergency cords. It is vital that these cords reach all the way to the floor so that people can call for help if needed, and we hope that our Red Cord Campaign will encourage venues and people alike to make sure that they hang freely.”

If you would like to request a card, please email hello@euansguide.com or visit www.EuansGuide.com/RedCord.

Disabled Access Day is a tourism initiative from Visit Scotland aimed to promote those with disabilities, their families and friends to get out and about to visit a venue they have never been to before, such as a museum, cinema, sports venue or coffee shop.

When Euan MacDonald became disabled due to Motor Neurone Disease diagnosed 10 years ago, he got frustrated that the only way to discover if a venue was fully accessible was by visiting it himself.

Married with two young children, MacDonald has a ventilator, speaks with a speech synthesizer and uses a powered wheelchair to get around

To help him, the family of the 39-year-old started to note down the accessible venues in his home city of Edinburgh. Soon they had the beginnings of Euan’s guide, a disability review website and smart phone app.

600 places have been reviewed by disabled people in 250 towns across the UK with 400 more reviews by the venues themselves. Six people now work for Euan’s Guide, including MacDonald’s sister Kiki MacDonald, who recently gave up her job in investment management to focus on the project because she’s “passionate” about it.

It’s a free service and there’s no advertising because Euan’s Guide is funded entirely by the MacDonald family.

It has been endorsed by JK Rowling whose mum had MS and Professor Stephen Hawking, who, like Euan, has MND.

Euan MacDonald hopes the guide will cut out hours of phone calls and research for users and that it’ll remove the “fear of the unknown” when visiting somewhere for the first time.

He wrote answers to Ouch’s questions using a computer system which he controls by eye movement:

What makes Euan’s Guide different to all the access guides before it?

It allows users to visit new places with confidence, after learning from the experiences of someone with a similar disability. For example, I can find out what venues in Edinburgh another powerchair user has reviewed and learn what they thought of them. Another key difference is that we don’t just feature accommodation, restaurants and tourist attractions – the site allows users to review places that they go to every day, such as stations, supermarkets and post offices – you can even review outdoor spaces such as parks or well-known locations such as London’s Piccadilly Circus. Venues can give more detailed information on their accessibility features, like whether they have an induction loop, Changing Places toilet or offer relaxed performances.

What is the future of Euan’s guide?

The future of the site is being driven by the users. We’re on the third version and with each new iteration, we are improving functionality and accessibility. the site is designed to work on different devices and different platforms and our app has been well received. We know that there is always room for improvement, but we do spend a lot of time testing the site to ensure compatibility with software such as JAWS and for different technologies including eye gaze, which I use. We also hope that the site could be a stepping stone towards digital inclusion. Perhaps some disabled people who don’t currently use the internet might start if they know that a resource like Euan’s Guide exists.

And beyond the site?

In terms of the guide, we would like to develop an offline community. We held our first Euan’s Guide event a couple of months ago where we encouraged disabled people, their families and friends, to meet each other, make new friends and share their experiences of good & bad disabled access. We’ve also had days where a few of us have got together and reviewed venues, which was great fun. Finally, I’d like to invent a brain controlled wheelchair! This may sound futuristic and science fiction but it is currently being worked on by several universities.

• Before Euan’s Guide, MacDonald helped to establish the Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research at Edinburgh University. Later, he helped launch the centre’s Voicebank Study, which aims to generate a personalised voice for use in a comunication aid by people who will eventually lose the ability to speak.

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