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Disability Friendly Business Checklist
Please consider the following questions when evaluating your business for Disability Friendliness*.
I. Considerations for Evaluating Accessibility
- Is the entrance to the business accessible to persons with mobility limitations? Is the entry to the building on an even hard surface and without steps?
- If the accessible entrance is not immediately apparent, are there directional signs?
- Are there handicapped parking signs/spaces with necessary access space for vans with lifts?
- Does the business provide accessible restrooms, phones, water fountains?
Depending on the business and its services to the public, other considerations could also include:
- Posting a notice on the front door that assistance will be provided for customers with disabilities
- Installing sensors or automatic door openers
- Installing a lift or elevator
- Having Braille on elevator panels or signs for public restrooms
- Having Braille or large print available on menus
- Having a TTY, volume controls on a public telephone or any other assistive technology device
- Having movable seating and/or accessible tables that accommodate wheelchairs
- Having wide aisles or appropriately spaced displays of merchandise for wheelchairs to maneuver through
- Making the company's Website user-friendly to visitors with disabilities (i.e. including "text-only" versions for persons with visual impairments, or supplying text for audio clips for persons who are deaf/hard of hearing)
II. Considerations for Evaluating Customer-Friendliness
- Is staff alert and helpful to customers who have visible disabilities?
- Does someone on staff know sign language?
- Has the business offered disability awareness training to staff ?
- If removal of a barrier is not "readily achievable," are the goods, services, etc. made available through alternative methods?
III. Considerations for Evaluating Employment-Friendliness
- Are persons with disabilities included in their job applicant pool?
- When interviewing persons with disabilities, is the focus on the candidate's skills and abilities, not the disability?
- Has an effort been made to educate management or human resources personnel on ADA laws and compliance?
- Are policies, practices and procedures flexible enough that, if necessary, modifications can be made to ensure that the skills and abilities of applicants with disabilities are equally represented?
* This checklist has been reprinted with permission from the Virginia Business Leadership Network. Learn more about the VBLN
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