Workplace accessibility best practice: Communicate access information
Sociability
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Jul 9, 2025
Workplace accessibility best practice often focuses on a physical checklist of features. Many organisations believe that if they add a ramp, install a lift, and provide some braille signage, they have achieved full inclusion. However, these structural changes can be expensive and take a significant amount of time to implement.
A low cost win that is often overlooked is the communication of live data. Making sure you are sharing your facilities clearly every time something changes is a vital part of workplace accessibility best practice. This is where Sociability becomes an essential partner for your business.
Why is this so important? Because workplace accessibility changes over time. It is not a static state.
Do you shut down your lift to be serviced every six months? Do you put up twinkling fairy lights in your beer garden in the summer? Do you host loud staff parties? Workplace accessibility best practice means having a strategy in place to communicate these changes to your team and visitors before they arrive. With Sociability, you can pre-schedule these updates so that disabled guests always feel confident.
Communicating accessibility information: the first step in workplace accessibility best practice
Research shows that 78% of disabled people say they are more likely to visit a venue if they can find relevant access information in advance. Providing data that is accurate and up to date goes miles in building trust and loyalty with your visitors.
When information is not kept current, it becomes misleading. Inaccurate details create false expectations and result in frustrated customers. For instance, if a wheelchair user turns up and finds the lift is out of order, they will likely have to turn around and go home. This is a failure of workplace accessibility best practice that could be easily avoided with better communication tools.
Updating this information does not have to be overwhelming. Below we share our top communication tips to help you plan updates and ensure everyone has the information they need to navigate your space.
How to implement workplace accessibility best practice?
Are you ready to commit to implementing workplace accessibility best practice? Start by creating a plan for communicating accessibility information that will ensure your Disabled employees feel confident coming into the office.
Use Monthly Check-ins to Confirm Changes
Putting workplace accessibility best practice into place starts with alignment and collaboration. Sit down with your facilities or office management team once a month to plan for upcoming changes. Consider the following:
Regularly scheduled maintenance: Facilities teams usually schedule elevator or lift servicing months in advance. Check in with these teams so you can communicate these outages to visitors, even if the facility will only be out of service briefly.
Seasonal changes: Accessibility can change with the seasons. For example, a rooftop garden might only open in the summer. Added lights and decorations in summer beer gardens can also impact the sensory aspects of the space for neurodivergent visitors.
Planned events: Live music events or office quiz nights impact the environment for other visitors. Many disabled guests will want to attend these events, but they need to know about changes to sound and lighting in advance so they can make the choice for themselves.
Schedule Updates with Workplace Accessibility Tools like Sociability
Scheduling automatic updates in advance reduces the workload for your team. Even on a day where everything else is going wrong, your accessibility information will be up to date and you won’t have to scramble to make last minute adjustments for visitors on top of all the other things you’re thinking about.
Sociability builds tools like Sociability’s Accessibility Management System (AMS) to help you pre-schedule updates months in advance. This ensures that workplace accessibility best practice becomes a seamless part of your daily operations rather than a stressful extra task. Interested in learning more? check out our client case studies or set up a discovery call!
Assign Responsibility for Making Updates
If you want to make workplace accessibility best practice a priority, clear structures for ownership and accountability are key. It is easy to forget about accessibility when things get busy.
We suggest nominating a designated Accessibility Ambassador. This should be someone who is passionate about disability inclusion or interested in learning more. With tools like Sociability, you can assign specific responsibility to members of your team to ensure the data stays fresh.
FAQ: Communicating Workplace Accessibility Best Practice
1. What is the most common mistake in workplace accessibility?
The most common mistake is assuming that accessibility is "finished" once a ramp is installed. Real accessibility requires constant communication and monitoring to ensure that those features remain usable and that any temporary barriers are reported.
2. How often should we update our access information?
You should review your information at least once a month. However, any time there is a significant change, such as a broken lift, a change in lighting, or a renovation, you should update your digital information immediately.
3. Does this only benefit wheelchair users?
No. Effective communication of workplace accessibility best practice benefits everyone. It helps neurodivergent people prepare for sensory changes, helps d/Deaf people know if a hearing loop is working, and helps visually impaired people understand the layout of a room.
4. How can Sociability help my business with this?
Our Accessibility Management System allows you to map your space and share that data easily. You can pre-schedule "status updates" for your facilities, ensuring your visitors always see the most accurate information without you having to manually update it every single morning.
5. Is communicating access information a legal requirement?
Under the Equality Act 2010, employers and service providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments. Providing accurate information so that a disabled person can access your services is a key part of meeting these inclusive standards.
Keep Your Accessibility Information Up to Date
Have you ever turned up to a venue and it was not what you expected? Perhaps the photos were ten years old or the activity you planned was unavailable. It feels frustrating and misleading.
Disabled people constantly face inaccurate, out of date information that does not capture the true accessibility of a space. Putting in place a communication plan helps you proactively update your details. This earns the trust, loyalty, and respect of your disabled customers and staff.
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