Accessibility legislation for Guernsey is currently in development, and will eventually impact on all areas of daily life, including your business. Guernsey has a Disability Officer to co-ordinate and progress this work.

In order to help you get a bit ahead of the game, we have introduced some very basic measures to ease the transition. These simple steps should also enhance the appeal of your business to many of our existing customers, and provide better opportunities to expand your customer base.

As a first step we recommend all operators prepare and publish an Access Statement (this is now a requirement for boarding permit holders). This is a brief and honest description of the property, which will help people determine if your property can meet their particular requirements. To help in compiling a statement some self-assessment check lists are provided below, which should provide the basis for a good statement. There is also an example of a very effective statement, to illustrate just how this can be done well.

The key message here is about taking a fresh look at what you offer, and then taking reasonable steps to ensure your business can cater to as wide a range of potential clients as possible.

There are many small, simple and inexpensive changes that can have a disproportionate positive effect. More information is contained in the downloadable document Easy Does It. This has been produced for use in England, where legislation already applies, but the general guidance and principles set out are sound, and well worth a look.

The Disability Alliance and AccessAble can also help develop this important aspect of your business profile.

'We all Matter eh?' are a group of islanders, and their families who want to raise awareness and change the way the Guernsey Community thinks about disability locally. The group have developed a series of change cards to encourage organisations, schools, community groups, and individuals to #MakeAChange. Suggestions include training around disability awareness, improving access. You can download their 'Top tips for Accessible Tourism' below.