Two thirds of disabled people in Europe struggle in day to day life due to lack of Accessibility Information.

New Global research* by Handiscover indicates that over two thirds (67%) of disabled people in Europe say that they struggle to find accessibility information about venues and transportation difficult. Handiscover, a leading accessibility and disability data organisation, is now calling on businesses to consider improving Accessibility as a priority now that countries are showing signs of recovery post-Covid.

It’s thought that more than 135 Million people in Europe live with a long term illness or disability requiring specific accessibility needs, highlighting the importance of this research. Handiscover believes that if accessibility, accessibility information and greater training was in place across businesses in all sectors, the EU economy could benefit by up to 25% against current level - that’s almost 196 Billion Euros.**

To help businesses, Handiscover has now developed and released world-class ‘Accessibility Standards’ for a wide range of business types which it provides free of charge to help businesses start working on improving accessibility. Organisations that are needing help to improve accessibility can sign up for Handiscover’s Accessibility Management Program. The program includes accessibility data management and assessment, marketing tools to help communicate accessibility to consumers, and Accessibility & Disability Education for staff to help all businesses recover in a post COVID world.

As some industry examples, the research also discovered that two thirds of disabled people found daily essential services and destinations such as Shopping Malls and corporate Offices across Europe lacked accessibility information, with 60% saying the lack of accessibility information had a negative impact on their impression of the organisation or company.

“Now that we can hopefully start to see a light at the end of the tunnel across Europe, business has a huge opportunity to start catering for all customers by improving accessibility and how they communicate that level of accessibility before a consumer or customer visits. Even small changes to accessibility can radically increase customer satisfaction and business growth.” says Magnus Berglund, Accessibility Director at Handiscover.

Sebastien Archambeaud CEO Handiscover said "With roughly 25% people in Europe suffering from some form of disability, be that visible or non-visible, and with disabled consumers accounting for a potential market value of £249 billion per annum***, it is easy to see why a renewed focus on accessibility in a öpost-COVID world is needed – both from an ethical and a commercial standpoint.”.

Interview opportunities:

Magnus Berglund (and Dixie), Accessibility Director, Handiscover.

Magnus has over 25 years of experience working with Accessibility in the Hotel industry and has consulted globally including in New York and House of Lords.

Fatmir Seremeti, Swedish Paralympian, Author and Inspirational Speaker.

Sebastien Archambeaud, CEO, Handiscover.

Media Enquiries and Interview requests:

Alex McNab, Handiscover Chief Communications Officer

Email: alex.m@handiscover.com

Telephone: +45 21 31 44 87