Provide for guests with hearing or sight impairments

Kim Murphy, a regular guest who is registered blind (see panel) says: "Rudding Park has set the bar high for me. It's my happy place. I am confident here, but I can't say that about many places."

It's unclear why that is the case as the Equality Act 2010 requires businesses to make reasonable adjustments to be accessible to people with any disability – and that includes people who have sight or hearing impairments.

It's also a sizeable market. Some 12 million people in the UK are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus, and around 360,000 people are registered blind or partially sighted – though many others are not registered and have impairments such as blurred vision, colour-blindness and night-blindness.

Their experiences as guests are easily enhanced through well thought-out design in tandem with well-trained staff, so that they can navigate your hotel and feel safe.

Style and function

To this end, hotels are increasingly incorporating accessibility into their design. Bespoke Hotels' style-forward Brooklyn brand is a good example of what hotels could offer as the norm. The Manchester branch opened in 2020 – also scooping an Accessibility Catey – and the second property, in Leicester, is to open on 4 July. Like its sister, the 191-bedroom property has been designed with accessibility in mind, featuring 10 accessible and six ambulant-accessible bedrooms and en suites. All have adjoining rooms for carers, and to ensure that the employees can be as diverse as their guests, there are accessible changing and shower facilities back-of-house.

Of course, the design of the rooms requires expert help. In both hotels, SquidInc has overseen the interiors, with features incorporated by accessible design company Motionspot.

"The accessibility has been integrated into the design so [they are] very cool, on-trend properties with great accessible credentials," says Paul Bayliss, regional general manager of the Hotel Brooklyn brand. He points out that the accessible design for sight and hearing-impaired guests has zero impact on other guests, and elements such as hoists for those with mobility issues can be removed from bedrooms. It is the vision of Bespoke Hotels president Robin Sheppard, who experienced first-hand the complications he had to overcome as a disabled guest. "As an experienced hotelier, he made it his ambition to build a cool, trendy lifestyle hotel with accessibility for all at the forefront of the design," says Bayliss.

The return on investment on these rooms in Manchester has been estimated on annual occupancy of 60% at an average rate of £120 a night – about £475,000 of revenue in an average year after a year or two of trading.

Remove the obstacles

In line with the brand design, the new hotel, near the Leicester Tigers' rugby ground Welford Road Stadium, channels the trendy loft-style apartments of New York's Brooklyn. All the rooms are design-led with high-spec furnishings, such as burgundy leather upholstered beds and desk chairs covered in soft fabrics. Feature walls are decorated in the style of the graphic artist MC Escher. Public areas, such as the atrium reception area, also have a nod to New York, with red-brick walls, ‘ghost' signage and exposed steel gantries.

The accessible elements are subtle, but a quick surf around the interactive website reveals how cutting-edge they are. Updates to the Equality Act mean that website design needs to be accessible and Brooklyn seems to nail it. Head to the dedicated Access Gallery page, which guides guests with any disability – from dementia to people requiring hoists – through the hotel, indicating the access facilities as well as potential obstacles. For people with sight loss, the gallery is also available on the Blue Badge Style iPhone app, which has text-to-speech. And alt text is available for screen readers.

The photos are interactive. Click a tab on an image of reception, for example, and it will flag up to those with sight impairment that there are flat black-and-white floor tiles, that it is well lit, there is good colour-contrast and that tables and seating are on the left. Click near the reception desk and anyone with hearing impairments will learn that there are evacuation plans, vibrating under-pillow alarms, and induction loops available. There is also a virtual video tour, with floorplans and measurements – useful for guests with mobility issues as well as sight impairment. And all the menus on the website can be read aloud – including the information about guide dogs.

To enable guests with partial sight to independently navigate the hotel with ease, Motionspot has ensured that the accessible bedrooms and communal spaces are decorated to provide tonal contrast between the floor, walls and ceilings. Door handles, switches, sockets and signage are also differentiated.

This use of contrast continues into the ensuite bathrooms, which feature black non-slip floors and white toilets and walls. Matt-black taps contrast against white porcelain and – recognising that some guests may have other disabilities – there are matt-black grab rails and clearly defined emergency buttons.

Although the aesthetic of the hotels is dark and moody, lighting in the accessible bedrooms has been increased so that guests with sight impairment can find their way around. The wardrobes are open for easy access, blinds and curtains are electronically controlled, and there are facilities for guide dogs.

Signage and printed materials have been designed to be easy to read. Importantly, the lifts have raised number buttons and key card access ensures guests can get to the right floor and room. And the TVs, including large-screen TVs in the bars, have subtitles.

Crucially, in case of emergency, deaf people are alerted through the room TV and ceiling lights will flash red throughout the building. The use of carpets and softer fabrics in the bedrooms and communal spaces helps to absorb noise to help guests with tinnitus or hearing difficulties. In Manchester, for instance, Runyon's Bar is helpfully flagged on the website as being noisy when full, while the top floor bar has good A/V and hearing induction loops and the Snug bar is marked as a quieter space.

"Superb design, access for all and careful thought to anyone needing special care is at the centre of the hotel's philosophy," says Bayliss. "While maintaining its cool interiors, the hotel has been carefully designed with wider accessible entranceways, bespoke parking spaces, thoughtful layout and design of furniture and amenities and can cater for specific dietary requirements and prepare meals for ease of eating."

As well as working with Motionspot on accessible design, the brand also collaborates with organisations such as the Blue Badge guide and the British Deaf Society to train staff in how to support guests with diverse needs.

Banks at Rudding Park is also a great advocate of training, going one step further to ensure staff understand what guests might be feeling by, say, using blindfolds during sessions.

"We focus on empathy in detail, often suggesting to our employees to put themselves in our guest's shoes," says Banks. "Our culture is one of inclusion and our aim is not to patronise people with disabilities, nor to make them feel as though they stand out."

Guest expectations

Kim Murphy and her guide dog Jango regularly check into Rudding Park. The reason why she keeps returning is simple – it's the staff.

"It can be daunting going away when you can't see. You need to feel comfortable," says Murphy.

"At Rudding Park staff are trained in awareness and that makes a huge difference. They are friendly, which is important because I need to feel I can ask them for help. And they are intuitive, but not overbearing. Nor do they treat me as if I'm stupid. In some places staff speak to me through my husband, or put the teapot on the other side of the table where I can't find it. It's little things."

It is also about going the extra mile, as she explains: "I lost my sight suddenly, so it was a huge shock – I didn't like going swimming any more, for instance. But Rudding Park's spa manager arranged for a staff member to take me in for a swim. It was very emotional because the freedom of being in a pool is special. I have now built up my confidence and go in on my own."

Murphy points out that everyone has different needs within the band of visual impairment, with people who require guide dogs having different needs to people who use a cane.

"A guide dog is highly trained and is a mobility aid. Jango is life-changing from my perspective, so it is important that people welcome my dog. Despite the law, however, that isn't always the case."

She says that one particular hazard in hotels is knowing where steps are, adding that handrails need to be full-length because if the rail stops before the last step a guest with sight impairment can fall. Murphy also appreciates compact furniture and says that the staff are happy to move furniture if the legs stick out or the corners are sharp.

The added extras are good, too. "The Rudding Park kitchen garden is my happy place," she adds. "It is good to provide a sensory place for people with hearing or sight impairments. The smell and feeling there is wonderful. And the sound of water."

Common problems

As a blind person, what are the problems that you come up against most when you are in a hotel?

• Finding the hotel room if there are no tactile or braille numbers on the door.
• Using the room key card. If there are no tactile indications, such as a snip at one end, I don't know which end to insert into doors.
• Going to breakfast if I am on my own.

What other things could a hotelier change to make your life easier?

• Give me a physical walk-through of the hotel lobby, walk me to my room and describe the facilities.
• Explain how the shower works and which side the hot and cold taps are, or if you have to twist one tap to 12 o'clock to make the water cold or 6 o'clock to make it hot.
• Show me where I can take my guide dog to the toilet in a place that is safe and doesn't disrupt others.

Sassy Wyatt's blog is at: www.blindgirladventures.com

Annie Harris

Annie Harris, advocacy officer at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, on improving the experience of guests with impaired hearing

One in five adults in the UK have hearing loss, so what procedures do hotels need to safeguard guests with hearing impairments during emergencies, such as a fire alarm? This is a big concern for people with hearing loss, particularly when sleeping, as they will take out their hearing aids. Vibrating pads or pagers that link to the fire system are a good idea. [Find out more at www.rnidconnevans.co.uk].

Could you give some examples of easy adjustments hoteliers can make to give people with hearing loss a better experience?

• Staff should remove face coverings to aid lip reading, face the person when talking and make sure they are in a quiet and well-lit room. If required, write things down or use speech-to-text apps. See www.rnid.org.uk for more.
• Offer to lower background music or provide a quiet space in restaurants for people to enjoy conversations without background noise.
• Provide clear visual information and directions for sign language users who may not have English as a first language.
• Install flashing doorbells in hotel bedrooms to alert guests to room service and offer vibrating alarm clocks with flashing lights.
• Install a spyhole in room doors or a visual intercom so guests can see who is at the door
• Ensure subtitles are available on hotel TVs.

What are examples of the most ideal adjustments they can make that might require more investment?

• Provide accessible contact methods, rather than solely relying on phones. This could include an online booking system, text, email, Relay UK or a video relay service for British Sign Language (BSL) users.
• Consider providing BSL-translated videos on your website or social media channels, and give staff basic BSL training and deaf awareness training.
• Make sure there is a hearing loop at reception and in conference rooms, and that there is a process to check it's working.
• Add softer furnishings, for example, carpets and tablecloths, to minimise background noise.
• Consider silent air-conditioning, extractor fans and other equipment to reduce interference with hearing technology.
• Lifts could have a tablet-style flatscreen with a camera for lipreading/signing and a keyboard for texting. Or provide full mobile phone signal coverage in lifts and basements with a mobile assistance number for texting in emergency.

AccessAble

Formerly DisabilityGo, this online accessibility guide and mobile app provides information on 70,000 UK organisations across education, healthcare, councils and the private sector – Hilton Hotels is a big client. "As a business, providing information about your accessibility is as important as providing your address," says head of marketing Carrie Ann Lightley, a wheelchair user who used to run charity Tourism for All. The venues cover costs when they commission a survey. "It is a factual guide. But the team can provide internal reports with recommendations on improvements as an optional extra," says Lightley.

Website: www.accessable.co.uk

Blog: www.carrieannlightley.com