Euan’s Guide Access Survey launches at Motability Operations event in Scotland
The 2023 Euan’s Guide Access Survey launched in association with Motability Operations at The Big Event in Edinburgh, Scotland recently, aiming to seek the views disabled people have on disabled access and the cost of living crisis.
Euan’s Guide is an award-winning charity that works to make it easier, safer and more rewarding for disabled people, their friends, families and carers to find and visit accessible places. It asks anyone who has ever had to consider disabled access to share their opinions on accessibility by taking the UK’s largest survey, which can be accessed here.
This year presents the ninth survey and covers topics such as toilets, parking and general disabled access, as well as the cost of living crisis for the second year.
The data gathered from the Access Survey informs Euan’s Guide in its mission to improve accessibility, and the insights from the survey help to shape the charity’s work around amplifying the voices and experiences of disabled people.
Last year’s survey included the opinions of over 7,500 people, 98 per cent of whom identified as a disabled person. This year, the Euan’s Guide team hopes to break the record number of responses.
The 2022 Access Survey found that 91 per cent of respondents try to find disabled access information about a new place before visiting. Additionally, 72 per cent of respondents have found accessibility information on a venue’s website to be misleading, confusing or inaccurate.
The survey also revealed that 74 per cent of respondents were found to have experienced a disappointing trip of having to change plans due to poor accessibility, while 51 per cent of respondents reported that reviews from other disabled people improve their confidence when visiting new places.
Furthermore, 46 per cent of respondents visited somewhere new after reading a review on EuansGuide.com
When talking about the cost of living crisis, which was included in the Access Survey for the first time in 2022, it revealed 68 per cent had cut back on their energy usage and 57 per cent were concerned about their energy bills.
Also, 81 per cent of respondents said that they had started making different choices when buying things, 34 per cent had cut back on vehicle costs and 55 per cent were doing less than they were before the cost of living crisis.
Andrew Miller, Chief Executive of Motability Operations, said: “I’m proud to continue our support of Euan’s Guide and help launch this year’s Access Survey.
“The results are an important and valuable source of data which helps to drive positive change for our customers and disabled people across the UK. I’d ask anyone with lived experience of disabled accessibility to take the time to complete the survey and make their voices heard.”
Euan’s Guide was founded in 2013 by Euan MacDonald MBE, a powerchair user, and his sister Kiki after Euan was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease in 2003.
They found that a lack of disabled access made every day experiences stressful and they soon learned that other disabled people faced the same challenges, so they set up EuansGuide.com as a place for disabled people to find and share disabled access information.
The website has tens of thousands of visitors each month and the charity has made over 125,000 accessible toilets safer through their Red Cord Card scheme.
Founder of Euan’s Guide, Euan MacDonald, said: “Our Access Survey is extremely important in establishing how disabled people, their families, friends and carers feel about disabled access through their own lived experiences, and how the cost of living crisis is disproportionately affecting disabled people.
“We’re delighted to be working with Motability Operations for a third year to amplify the voices and experiences of disabled people. It’s vital that anyone who has had to consider disabled access makes their voice heard by taking our Access Survey, so we can work together to make a difference.”
Train operator Greater Anglia recently launched online virtual tours for its entire new train fleet that are particularly aimed at helping disabled customers who want to check how accessible their journey is.
