The Equality Act 2010 is not compliance based and not prescriptive in its requirements, however, it does refer to Reasonable Adjustment, this to ensure that a disabled person is not put at a disadvantage. It can be difficult for service providers to determine what is reasonable and what is not.
An Access Audit helps you to understand your obligations under the Equality Act 2010, and forms the basis of a plan of action to enable you to improve accessibility, in a planned way, over time.
At Access Alba we talk to the client BEFORE we carry out an Access Audit. This is to ensure we fully understand your business requirements, the use of the building, environment and service. We can then tailor the audit as required to meet the clients’ needs. We provide a full and concise access audit report.
An access audit will typically cover the following elements of a building and environment, including:
- Approach and Car Parking
- Entrances
- Receptions
- Horizontal Circulation – corridors and doors
- Vertical Circulation – Lifts and Stairs
- Toilets
- Signage and Wayfinding
- Inclusive Communication
- Means of Escape for Disabled People
As part of the audit service, we will help you to understand the term Reasonable Adjustment, we will provide you with practical assistance, and practical recommendations for improvement, based on current regulation. We will give you advice on how you can achieve the improvements in a planned way.
The scope of the audit will depend on how the Equality Act applies to you, which we will discuss and agree with you in full.
The Equality Act 2010, Section 3, covers all elements of your service, to help you meet the requirements of the Act we can also offer audits of other services such as Communication Audits (promotional leaflets, policy documents, menus etc). See Inclusive Communication and Easy Read Translation Services for more information.