The town getting help to improve its wheelchair access

One council has developed a website to help businesses and planners make buildings more wheelchair friendly
Lynette McMillan leaves the Tasty Bites cafe on her mobility scooter.
Lynette McMillan leaves the Tasty Bites cafe in Weston-super-Mare. Two-thirds of top tourist attractions are not accessible to disabled people. Photograph: Sam Frost

There is nothing out of the ordinary, at first glance, about the smart pale stone steps leading up to the main entrance of Weston-super-Mare's grade 2 listed Victorian town hall. Nor at second glance, in fact. Then Anthony Rylands turns a key and pushes a button, and the magic begins. One by one, the five steps on the left of the central handrail glide noiselessly into the area beneath Rylands's feet. A solid stone platform is revealed at ground level, ready for a wheelchair to roll straight on. It rises into the air with the same slow grace, until it is level with the entrance – and the wheelchair can roll straight off. Rylands, North Somerset council's access officer for disabled people, grins.

October marks 10 years since businesses and organisations have been required to make "reasonable physical adjustments" under the Disability Discrimination Act so disabled people don't find it unnecessarily difficult to use their services. Adjustments can range from adding ramps or lifts to offering information in large print, or making sure guide dogs are welcome. What is judged reasonable depends on factors such as the cost of the work needed in relation to the size of the business.

Older buildings of architectural interest can be some of the trickiest to adapt, but the message from the magic steps is that taking the time to look for innovative options can pay dividends. The council lighted on the idea after the more obvious option, a long ramp to the right hand side of the facade, met strong opposition from English Heritage. The steps cost £70,000 but it is likely the ramp would have been even more expensive.

Elsewhere, though, research suggests many are still dragging their heels. Last week, a survey of 52 of Britain's 100 most visited tourist attractions by the charity Vitalise found that almost two-thirds (63%) were not fully wheelchair accessible. A quarter had no disabled car parking spaces and just 13% said all their staff had received disability awareness training. The other 48 attractions in the top 100 didn't respond to Vitalise's enquiries at all, despite repeated approaches from the charity.

Sitting in the Tasty Bites cafe on Weston-super-Mare's high street, local campaigners say the problems aren't just limited to tourist spots. Too many shops either don't have ramps or have temporary ones that they keep out of sight and don't advertise; others have a ramp into the shop but steps inside that prevent wheelchair users getting everywhere.

Businesses often assume they don't need to worry about access because they have no disabled customers – failing to work out that this is because it is impossible for them to enter in the first place.

"There's a lack of understanding that they're missing out on trade, not just from people with wheelchairs or walking frames, but parents with buggies too," says Lynette McMillan, who has cerebral palsy and uses a frame or a mobility scooter.

It is an oddly cavalier attitude, when the annual spending power of the UK's 10 million disabled people is around £80bn. One survey found that 83% had been forced to take their custom to a more accessible competitor, with 58% saying the way they are treated by a business affects the buying decisions of their families and friends.

Steve Ledbrook, who has muscular dystrophy, plays pool competitively but has had to quit his league because after the quarter-final stages, none of the venues used are wheelchair accessible. He recently went to a pub that advertised live music upstairs. He says: "I asked how did I get to the music, and they said 'you can hear it downstairs'."

Historical buildings often go part of the way, but not far enough, says Alison Morgan, who has a neuromuscular disorder. "Sometimes people will think they've done their bit by putting the bell outside [to ring for assistance] but there's no one to respond," she says. "I asked for help opening a door at a cathedral and the response was 'people like you normally have someone with you'."

It's hurtful, says McMillan: "You feel you're not wanted. You're excluded, like you're not important."

Social worker Liz Walker, who works with deaf people, says more shop staff need deaf awareness training, so they know not to turn away from customers who rely on lip reading, and can help by standing where the light is best for lip readers. Campaigners are full of praise for the many people and businesses who do get it right – including Tasty Bites, where a sign in the window lets people know there is a portable ramp, and owners Karen and Ian Francis have ditched an outside table to create a parking space for mobility scooters.

Rylands has developed a website that allows businesses and planners to locate the most relevant guidance and publications on access, searchable either by keyword or the type of event or building planned.

He has been impressed by the facilities at the new offices of nearby Knightstone Housing Association, where there's a "Knightstone blue badge" for those who don't qualify for the official blue badge but need to park near the building, perhaps if they're temporarily disabled, or pregnant. The reception has a low desk suitable for wheelchair users, and the floor is part-carpeted and part-tiled, so visually impaired people can sense where they are within the space. There is no sea of bright white walls and shiny glass, and in the kitchens, spaces have been left under the counters so wheelchairs users can get close to the work surfaces.

"We want to welcome our customers into this building, and we want to welcome staff and make it easy for them to give their best," says Knightstone's director of corporate services, Anne Duff. "It sends out a clear message about who we are to recruiters in the market. Things like this do come back and reward you later."