Are businesses in Derry City & Strabane missing out on business because their services aren’t as accessible as they could be? Around 20% of people in Northern Ireland have some form of disability and small changes to the way organisations work, present information and design their premises can have a big impact on their customers.

Yesterday (Wednesday 30 June) Developing Healthy Communities partnered with Derry City and Strabane District Council and the Public Health Agency to launch a new digital resource pack designed to help businesses and cultural organisations become more accessible and inclusive. 

Download the resource pack on the Derry City & Strabane District Council Website

At the online launch event expert speakers, including visually impaired athlete Dr Sinead Kane and Millenium Forum Box Office and Access Manager Lisa Heaney, came together to give their perspective on accessibility and demonstrate the responsibilities that businesses have to their community as well as the benefits that can be had by making small changes.

In the foreword to the pack, Developing Healthy Communities Chief Executive Erin McFeely says: "Making the spaces you manage accessible to all, and inclusive of everyone, is not a chore – it’s a pleasure. It’s the joy of knowing that you’ve made your business, or venue, or community space available to anyone who might want to enjoy it. That for all the smiling faces you see inside the place, you haven’t left anyone shut out."