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Accessibility Research · Summer 2018
In the summer of 2018, we set out to answer a question that too few organisations ask themselves: what happens when someone with a disability tries to visit your venue? Not the version described on your website — the real experience. The phone calls that go unanswered. The emails that receive a generic reply. The anxiety of not knowing whether you will be able to get through the front door.
We contacted 132 UK venues across seven sectors — airports, train operators, music venues and festivals, sports stadia, cinemas and theatres, hotels, and theme parks — with two separate accessibility enquiries. One was for a wheelchair user. The other was for a person with severe autism. The responses, and the silences, told us more about the state of accessibility in the UK than any compliance audit ever could.
This report is about welcoming. As Alastair Somerville of Acuity Design wrote in his foreword: accessibility is not simply about building solutions to specific problems — an access ramp here, alt text there. It is about hospitality, courtesy, and cordiality. It is about the totality of the experience: planning, booking, travelling, arriving, and being made to feel that you belong.
132
UK venues contacted
13.9M
People with disabilities in the UK
£212B
Annual commercial loss from inaccessibility
46%
Average response rate to our enquiries
The Mystery Shopper Exercise: What We Found
We approached 132 UK venues by email with two separate enquiries — one for a wheelchair user and one for a person with autism. These were a mixture of large, established national venues and smaller independent ones across airports, train operators, music venues and festivals, sports stadia (cricket, football, rugby, and ice hockey), cinemas and theatres, hotels, and theme parks. We assessed responses on five dimensions: whether they replied, how quickly, their level of awareness, whether they could fully accommodate the visitor, and their tone of voice.
The results were stark. The gap between how venues handle physical accessibility enquiries versus cognitive ones revealed a fundamental failure of understanding across the industry. Here is what the data showed.
Response Rates
| Metric | Wheelchair Enquiry | Autism Enquiry |
|---|---|---|
| Venues that responded | 58% | 33% |
| Responded within 24 hours | 34% | 31% |
| Responded within 48 hours | 63% | 33% |
| Took longer than 2 days | 3% | 36% |
The disparity is immediately visible. Nearly two-thirds of venues failed to respond at all to our autism enquiry. And this despite the fact that almost all messages were sent to dedicated accessibility email addresses — the very channels designed to capture this type of request. Some venues failed to address our question about accessibility altogether but still added us to a marketing email list.
Awareness Levels
| Awareness Level | Wheelchair | Autism |
|---|---|---|
| High — knew exactly what was needed | 11% | 25% |
| Fair — at least one gap in understanding | 67% | 34% |
| Low — needed prompting on basics | 12% | 41% |
| Gave a generic physical-disability-only response | — | 27% |
More than a quarter of venues responded to our autism enquiry with information that would only be suitable for a physically impaired person. They did not understand the difference between physical and cognitive conditions. When we explained what our visitor with autism would need, 41 percent still required additional prompting on the basics. Some venues replied initially but, after we described the requirements in detail, simply stopped responding.
Ability to Fully Accommodate
| Accommodation | Wheelchair | Autism |
|---|---|---|
| Could fully accommodate | 87% | 61% |
| Could accommodate with limited access | — | 30% |
| Could not accommodate at all | 13% | 9% |
| Required paperwork before providing info | 16% | 20% |
The Equality Act of 2010 is unambiguous: public-facing venues must take positive steps to remove barriers and ensure equal access. Yet an average of 26 percent of venues told us they could not fully accommodate the conditions in question. Perhaps more troubling was the bureaucratic gatekeeping — up to 20 percent of venues demanded paperwork and documentation before they would even answer our initial question. For someone already anxious about visiting a new place, being asked to prove their disability before receiving basic information is the opposite of welcoming.
Tone of Voice and Ease of Resolution
| Metric | Wheelchair | Autism |
|---|---|---|
| Friendly and approachable tone | 20% | 34% |
| Abrupt or dismissive tone | 25% | 16% |
| Resolved in one email | 63% | 41% |
| Required two or more emails | 37% | 52% |
| Never resolved the enquiry | 0% | 7% |
| Offered further on-site support | 43% | 59% |
On average, only 27 percent of venues came across as friendly and supportive. A quarter were judged to be abrupt or dismissive. Interestingly, smaller independent venues were far more likely to respond warmly — 73 percent of friendly responses to the autism enquiry came from small venues. The larger, more corporate organisations tended toward process-heavy, impersonal replies. Seven percent of venues started a conversation about our autism enquiry and then simply went silent once the requirements were explained.
Real Experiences
The Airport Customer Journey: Two Perspectives
To understand what accessibility looks like in practice — beyond the statistics — we interviewed two people who depend on organisations taking an inclusive approach to their services. Molly Watt is an accessibility and usability consultant living with Usher syndrome, a genetic condition causing deafblindness. Claire Harvey MBE is a wheelchair user, CEO of Diversity Role Models, and former captain of the GB Sitting Volleyball Team at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
“As soon as you say, ‘Yes I would like assistance,’ they assume you would like a person to come with a wheelchair. Some airlines recognise deaf or blind, but not deafblind. You cannot make specific requests when booking. When visually impaired travellers request assistance, they get a wheelchair.”
— Molly Watt, accessibility consultant, on travelling as a deafblind passenger
“Depending on how you enter the plane, you watch your chair go off hoping it makes it — a few times it hasn’t. I then have to go in the aisle chair, where you are strapped in like Hannibal Lecter. Staff talk to my companion and I am ignored. Aisles are not wide enough for wheelchairs. Other passengers’ baggage creates obstacles.”
— Claire Harvey MBE, CEO of Diversity Role Models, on boarding a plane as a wheelchair user
We mapped the entire airport customer journey from research and booking through to landing, identifying pain points at every stage: hotel accessibility standards that are inconsistent and unguaranteed until check-in, taxi firms that refuse guide dogs, security scanners where body contact and foot markers cause anxiety for blind passengers, departure lounges with zigzag shopping walkways that are impossible to navigate, boarding processes that separate families and damage wheelchairs, safety briefings delivered over aircraft noise that are inaccessible to deaf passengers, and in-flight entertainment systems with no accessibility features.
Venues Getting It Right — And Getting It Wrong
Dundee Rep Theatre responded with a detailed, warm email mapping out wheelchair access across every area of the building — the automatic door, the ground-level restaurant and accessible toilet, the lift to the bar and auditorium, the specific seat locations in Row D, and an usher stationed nearby to provide assistance. It was personal, practical, and welcoming.
Lord’s Cricket Ground stood out for its autism response. Russell Seymour, the venue’s Sustainability Manager, sent a lengthy, thoughtful reply that acknowledged the differences between match-day environments — explaining that a county championship match with its smaller, calmer crowd might be more suitable than a sold-out Test Match, while offering the Companion Scheme for a free ticket for a carer. He identified quiet spaces, discussed potential triggers, and offered a pre-event guided tour so the visitor could familiarise themselves with the venue while it was empty.
On the other end of the spectrum — and we have omitted names to focus on improving the situation rather than shaming specific venues — one hotel responded to our autism enquiry by suggesting that a self-catering option might be “more appropriate” since they could not guarantee control over other guests. Another venue told us they were a basement that pre-dated the DDA and considered the matter closed. A sports venue refused to provide any information until we submitted a copy of a Disability Living Allowance Award notice with a 2018 date, name, and address. One transport provider assigned us a case reference number and told us the case would be closed if we did not log into their customer portal within five days.
The contrast between these responses is not about budget or building age. It is about culture. The venues that responded well treated accessibility as a customer service question. The venues that responded poorly treated it as a compliance burden — or ignored it entirely.
What Is Being Done
Organisations Making a Difference
Neatebox — Founded by Gavin Neate, who spent 18 years with Guide Dogs UK, Neatebox created the Welcome app. It allows people with disabilities to notify venues ahead of their arrival, share their specific requirements, and trigger a geofence alert as they approach so staff can prepare. The venue receives an overview of the visitor’s condition along with practical interaction tips. Edinburgh Airport and Jenners House of Fraser were early adopters. As one user reported: “These visits with the Welcome App have helped me to get out. There is a purpose in going out if you know that you can get help.”
Attitude is Everything — A disability-led charity focused on making live music accessible, led by CEO Suzanne Bull MBE. Their Charter of Best Practice is recognised as the UK’s industry standard for live music accessibility. Their mystery shopper programme — over 1,500 shops of live music events — directly informs their guidance. A snapshot of 20 Charter venues showed that deaf and disabled audiences increased by 151 percent on average between 2014 and 2018. Their Ticketing Without Barriers Coalition now includes over 40 industry organisations representing the majority of the UK live music market.
Euan’s Guide — Created in 2013 by Euan MacDonald, a powerchair user diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, and his sister Kiki. The site is a disabled access review platform — built by disabled people, for disabled people. Thousands of reviews from over two thousand contributors now cover venues across the UK and beyond. One user, who had stopped going to the cinema for ten years after becoming a wheelchair user, read a review from another wheelchair user on Euan’s Guide and visited their local cinema for the first time in a decade. The platform also runs Disabled Access Day, an annual event encouraging venues to showcase their accessibility.
Conclusion: Exclusion Is Not a Disability Issue — It Is a Design Issue
Almost 14 million people in the UK are disabled not by their conditions, but by the society in which they live. Millions are missing out on everyday experiences — a trip to the cinema, a concert, a holiday, a commute to work — because of a basic lack of accessibility awareness across the travel, leisure, and tourism sectors.
Our research found that vital information on accessibility was incomplete, difficult to find, or missing altogether. Staff often displayed a basic lack of awareness — particularly around cognitive conditions like autism. When someone with a disability reaches out to a venue and is met with silence, bureaucracy, or a suggestion that they would be better off staying home, the message is unmistakable: you are not welcome here.
But the solutions exist. Organisations like Neatebox, Attitude is Everything, and Euan’s Guide demonstrate that making spaces accessible does not require enormous budgets — it requires culture change, staff training, and a willingness to see accessibility as a customer service priority rather than a compliance obligation. The Equality Act is clear. The commercial case is overwhelming. The human case should need no argument at all.
This report was produced by Chris Bush, Head of User Experience Design at Sigma, with contributions from Molly Watt, Claire Harvey MBE, Alastair Somerville (Acuity Design), Gavin Neate (Neatebox), Jacob Adams (Attitude is Everything), and Euan MacDonald (Euan’s Guide).
Frequently Asked Questions
Accessibility in Public Spaces: Common Questions
How many people in the UK are affected by accessibility barriers?
Approximately 13.9 million people in the UK live with some form of disability or condition that affects how they interact with public spaces, transport, and leisure venues. This includes physical impairments such as mobility limitations and visual or hearing loss, as well as cognitive conditions including autism, learning disabilities, and mental health conditions. Collectively, the spending power of disabled people and their households — sometimes referred to as the “purple pound” — is estimated at £249 billion per year.
What does the Equality Act 2010 require from public venues?
The Equality Act 2010 requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people. This includes removing physical barriers where possible, providing auxiliary aids and services, and making changes to policies and procedures. The Act applies to all organisations that provide goods, facilities, or services to the public — including transport operators, leisure venues, hotels, theatres, and event spaces. Failure to comply can result in legal action and claims for discrimination.
Why do venues struggle more with cognitive disabilities like autism than physical ones?
Our research found that many venues equate accessibility almost exclusively with physical access — ramps, lifts, and wheelchair spaces. Cognitive conditions like autism require a fundamentally different kind of accommodation: quiet spaces, advance information about what to expect, flexibility in booking processes, and staff trained to interact calmly and patiently. Because these needs are less visible and less standardised, many venues lack the awareness, training, and procedures to respond effectively. In our study, 27 percent of venues responded to an autism enquiry with information that would only be relevant to someone with a physical impairment, showing a basic failure to distinguish between different types of disability.
What is the “purple pound” and why does it matter for businesses?
The “purple pound” refers to the collective spending power of disabled people and their households in the UK, estimated at £249 billion per year. Businesses that are inaccessible are effectively turning away up to one in five potential customers, representing a commercial loss estimated at £212 billion annually. Beyond the direct spending of disabled individuals, inaccessible venues also lose the custom of friends and family who choose not to visit places where someone in their group cannot be accommodated. Improving accessibility is not only a legal and moral obligation — it represents a significant commercial opportunity for businesses willing to invest in inclusive design.
What can venues do to improve accessibility for visitors with autism?
Venues can take several practical steps to accommodate visitors with autism. Publishing detailed advance information about what to expect — noise levels, crowd density, lighting, and available quiet spaces — helps visitors plan and reduces anxiety. Offering pre-visit tours while the venue is closed allows people to familiarise themselves with the environment. Training staff to recognise that autism is a cognitive condition (not a physical one) and to respond calmly and patiently is essential. Some venues now categorise events by sensory intensity so visitors can make informed choices. Technology solutions like the Neatebox Welcome app allow visitors to share their specific needs ahead of arrival so staff can prepare appropriately.
What is end-to-end accessibility and why does it matter?
End-to-end accessibility means considering the entire customer journey — not just what happens inside the venue. It starts with researching and booking online, where website accessibility determines whether someone can even find information and complete a reservation. It continues through travel to the venue, where transport accessibility and wayfinding play critical roles. It includes arrival, where meet-and-greet services and clear signage matter. It covers the experience itself, where facilities, staff awareness, and environmental factors determine comfort. And it extends to departure and aftercare, where feedback mechanisms and follow-up communication complete the loop. A venue that is physically accessible but impossible to book online has not solved the accessibility problem — it has only addressed one piece of it.
How did the live music industry respond to accessibility concerns?
The charity Attitude is Everything, led by CEO Suzanne Bull MBE, has driven significant change in the UK live music sector. Their Charter of Best Practice is recognised by the UK Live Music Group as the industry standard for accessibility. Over 1,500 mystery shops of live music events have informed their guidance, and a snapshot of 20 Charter venues showed that deaf and disabled audiences increased by 151 percent on average between 2014 and 2018. In 2017, Suzanne Bull was appointed as the UK Government’s Sector Champion for the Live Music Industry. The Ticketing Without Barriers Coalition, launched alongside the fourth State of Access Report, now includes over 40 industry organisations working to improve the ticket booking experience for disabled audiences.