Lay My Hat

If you are considering a grading from Visit England - have a look at their National Accessible Scheme. There is very detailed guidance on the requirements for different levels of accessible access.
http://www.qualityintourism.com/quality-schemes/access/

I think there are some other issues.

1) Simply spending an afternoon researching accommodation for disabled people reveals there is an overwhelming amount of dishonesty by players in our industry. Too many people will boast "full accessibility" for gaffs with stairs, small un-adapted bathrooms, confined spaces, door widths, high cupboards,......the list goes on. People will be very wary.

2) I think many people with physical disabilities have been conned before and that reduces any appetite to try new properties. We have regular returners and their main reason I think is that they know what they are getting and a much looked forward to holiday won't be a total disaster (even if they'd actually like a change of scene).

3) Your facilities. One size does not fit all. Unless you have a huge budget your design features will be useful to a subset of the market. How big is that market and what does it spend? Maybe not much, I don't know.

4) I have advertised on Abelize and Euan's Guide and some other sites for people with a disability or mobility difficulties. Despite boasting a national reach the web stats from my ISP shows very little click through traffic. My feeling is that "holiday lets" add to the content of theses sites but the info is lost amongst everything else they cover. So they are not actually adding much value to a purchase decision.

5) A proper accreditation system (crucially visiting the property concerned) is maybe what's missing. I'm not sure the "Visit" organisations focus on this properly. I may be wrong.

Stewart wrote:
5) A proper accreditation system (crucially visiting the property concerned) is maybe what's missing. I'm not sure the "Visit" organisations focus on this properly. I may be wrong.

There is a scheme they offer, there's a download of the standards here .
Might be useful.

Good points you raise.

Stewart wrote: 1) Simply spending an afternoon researching accommodation for disabled people reveals there is an overwhelming amount of dishonesty by players in our industry. Too many people will boast "full accessibility" for gaffs with stairs, small un-adapted bathrooms, confined spaces, door widths, high cupboards,......the list goes on. People will be very wary.

2) I think many people with physical disabilities have been conned before and that reduces any appetite to try new properties. We have regular returners and their main reason I think is that they know what they are getting and a much looked forward to holiday won't be a total disaster (even if they'd actually like a change of scene).

This emphasises the vital need for a good Access Statement being available prior to booking, with every detail, so that guests can make a judgement for themselves and not rely on the owner's assessment of suitability.

As the owner I wrote the accommodation access statement. I come back to my point about customers being wary about the dishonesty that is out there and separating the wheat from the chaff is difficult for potential clients. Honest players are on an uneven playing field alas.

Stewart wrote:As the owner I wrote the accommodation access statement. I come back to my point about customers being wary about the dishonesty that is out there and separating the wheat from the chaff is difficult for potential clients. Honest players are on an uneven playing field alas.

I would imagine that many owners do not even have an access statement. So, for those that have, it shows we have carefully considered our guests' needs, and that would be a good way to sort the wheat from the chaff I guess. It's one thing to just not mention an obstacle on a website for example, but it would be a foolish owner who made a false claim in an access statement.