Visit Scotland | Alba

Promoting your accessibility

Visitors with access requirements will make decisions to visit based on what they can find out about your offer. Promoting your accessibility will ensure that you don’t miss out on attracting this loyal customer segment.

All visitors want easy-to-understand and up-to-date information that is quick and easy to find.

Enhancing your information provision will benefit all customers. This includes disabled people, senior travellers, and families with young children.

This page provides information on the importance of promoting your business' accessibility. This includes tips on how to create your own access guide and how to promote it.

In this article:

Why is information provision important?

85%

of customers with access requirements will check a business' website when planning a trip

Lack of information

on accessibility is one of the top barriers to visiting somewhere new

73%

of customers have found information on a venue's website to be misleading, confusing, or inaccurate

56%

of visitors think if a venue doesn't advertise their accessible services, they don't have any

Source: Euan's Guide Access Survey, 2022

Creating your access guide

We offer an access guide tool to help you supply access information that helps you describe your access facilities and services.

This will enable you to supply all the relevant information that your customers will need to plan their visit. It will also give visitors confidence to decide whether your business will be accessible for them.

We are increasing our support for the provision of access information. To that effect, we're joining forces with accessibility specialist, AccessAble, on this topic. In line with the increased support, the existing self-service tool will close on 30 June 2024.

A new service will be available from the end of April 2024. Further information will be posted soon.

If you have any questions, please email them to inclusivetourism@visitscotland.com.

How to make an access guide in three easy steps

  1. 1

    Visit our official accessibility guide website

    Our official accessibility guide website will help you to create and publish your own guide. 

    With useful information on the benefits of having a guide and how to get started.

    Go the official accessibility guides website
  2. 2

    Read our access guide FAQs

    These will let you will find answers to the most common questions relating to creating an access guide, including:

    • what photos you should use
    • what accurate measurements to include
    • guidance on how to upload maps and videos
    Visit the accessibility guides help page
  3. 3

    Download our example accessibility guides

    Would you like to know what a completed accessible guide looks like?

    We have examples for:

    • self-catering
    • restaurant
    • visitor attraction

    These examples are available to download. They will help give you an idea of how your own guide will look.

    Download example accessibility guides

Sharing your access guide

Once you have created an accessibility guide, it is important that customers can find it easily.

Tips for promoting your access guide

  • Make your guide easy to find

    Make sure your access guide is easy to find by adding a link on the homepage of your website.

  • Update your web listing

    Add your access guide to your VisitScotland web listing.

    Learn how you can add your guide using the extranet user guide. 

  • Use social media

    Promoting your access guide on your own social media is a great way of letting customers know that information is available. This could be on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok.

  • Update your Euan's Guide

    Create a listing for your business on Euan's Guide. Don't forget to add your access guide URL to your listing.

    Create your listing on euansguide.com.

Services to enhance your information provision

  • AccessAble

    They offer an accessiblity guide production service. This involves a trained surveyor visiting your venue. They'll then record information about your accessibility facilities and services.

    From this, they publish quality assured accessibility guide online and on a mobile app.

    Visit accessableconsultancy.co.uk for more information. 

  • Euan's Guide

    Review site for disabled people. Venues can list themselves for free and encourage their own customers to leave a review.

    Visit euansguide.com for more information.

  • Virtual Inclusion

    This organisation specialises in creating virtual tours of venues, incorporating access information. This gives your visitors the ability to plan their visit with confidence.

    Visit virtualinclusion.com for more information.

Discover more about accessible and inclusive tourism

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Find training resources and advice to help improve your customer service for all visitors.

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