DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT ( DDA ) STATEMENT
INTRODUCTION
The Olde Barn Hotel take their responsibility as a goods, service and facilities provider seriously and have taken steps to ensure compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and the rights of access up to and including October 2004.
The 1995 Act defines a disabled person as someone with “a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”. As from October 2004, where a physical feature makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled customers to make use of a service offered to the public, service providers will have to take measures, where reasonable.
EXCEEDING CUSTOMERS’ EXPECTATIONS
The Olde Barn Hotel is constantly striving to exceed customers’ expectations in terms of the general hotel experience, whether or not they are able bodied or have disabilities - taking the DDA directive of an inclusive approach. This policy of exceeding customers’ expectations is also extended to the Disability Act 1995.
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Parts of the hotel building date back to the early 1800’s and although the building is not listed there are some factors relating to it where there is an ongoing challenge in complying with the act. However, where there are no restraints we have been able to make significant improvements to the property. Phase 3 of our building programme which was completed in March 2007 was designed to exceed DDA compliance with lift access to all floors within the property. Our rule of thumb for accessibility has been the “push chair with a baby” test and we have identified areas where this is clearly not possible without the assistance of staff. Of our 11 meeting rooms the Marston and Hougham suite have limited access as they are built in the hay loft of the Barn conversion. Unfortunately they do not have sufficient space to install a ramp and the access to these rooms is via three small steps. These rooms are the only meeting rooms where staff assist may be required if clients book these rooms. Generally though, we allocate ground floor conference suites and meeting rooms to groups with delegates who have disability impairment. Our disabled bedrooms are on the ground floor as are our two main conference suites. Our recently adapted disabled bedrooms have been designed with strobe lights, audible fire alarms, emergency bedside and bathroom pull chord and “wheelchair drive in” showers. WE PROVIDE FREE OF CHARGE a self propelled shower chair. All public areas on the ground floor have level access, including bar, restaurant and leisure facilities. We have recently modified the changing facilities in the pool area to allow wheelchair access in both the Ladies and Gentleman’s changing rooms.
See video footage of our disabled bedroom below.
TRAINING
It is our duty to ensure our staff, are aware of the Disability Discrimination Act and our responsibilities as a provider and their duty as an employee. We have implemented a continual assessment programme, taking into account the changing roles and duties of employees. To this aim we have an ongoing training programme with our employees so that they can meet the many challenges that our disabled customers have to face and ensure that their experience in the hotel exceeds their expectations at all levels. This process of staff training is continuous and on going to meet our own drive to improves our standards.
COMMUNICATION
We aim to inform our guests of facilities that are in place through our brochure and this web site as well as detailing physical barriers. We will continue to produce written materials to a minimum of font size 12 and take into account all aspects of the RNIB guidelines including colour contrast and font. Staff will assist guests by reading material produced by the Olde Barn Hotel for guests unable to read. We also have a portable hearing loop available for use by our hearing impaired guests.
CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT
We have an on going and continuous improvement programme and as and when we improve the property we will ensure that consideration is always given to our disabled guests. With the completion of our new 50 bedrooms we have installed a passenger lift, giving full access to the hotel at all levels. Inevitably with an old building some areas will be less accessible in the short term and we have prioritised our financial resources to make changes to the hotel that will achieve the best benefit for a whole range of disabilities.
THIS WEBSITE
We aim to make this web site as accessible to everyone as possible, no matter what browser you choose to use, and whether or not you have any disabilities.
Stylesheets
This site uses cascading style sheets (CSS) for all visual layout (No tables are used for layout purposes). If your browser does not support stylesheets, the use of structured mark up should ensure that page content is still readable and clearly structured.
Fonts
To make it easier to read this website, all text has been made fully scaleable using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). You should be able to adjust the text by looking for the appropriate option in your browser preferences.
Colours
Care has been taken to ensure colours are generally of strong contrast for on-screen reading. However, visually impaired users may 'override' the default colours using a custom stylesheet if they wish. No information on the site is solely dependant on colour to be intelligible.
FEEDBACK
Through customer satisfaction survey’s, DDA audits and input from our management team at Thursday surgeries we believe that we are able to meet and improve our services to disabled guests. However, should you have any concerns or wish to report any failings we would ask you to contact Patrick Hunt, our Managing Director by telephoning 01400 250909 or emailing patrick.hunt@theoldebarnhotel.co.uk.
PRINCIPLES
The Olde Barn Hotel has adopted the following principles:
- To incorporate Disability Discrimination Act requirements into new build, and maintenance of both the interior and exterior of the premises.
- To ensure all written communications comply with the RNIB guidelines
- To ensure staff receive the appropriate training on the latest Disability Discrimination Act and the final rights of access October 2004.
- To ensure only disabled guests park in the parking area designated disabled parking
- When replacing signage we will ensure new signage is clear and complies with the Act.
- To ensure our disabled toilet is fully accessible at all times
- To ensure a member of staff is available 24 hours a day for guest assist customers, who request the service in advance
- We will ensure that menus are available in large print on request, or alternatively a member of staff is available to explain the menu
- We will continue to complete access assessments of our premises annually. We will incorporate requirements into either the short or long term plan
- Take the necessary action to ensure we comply with the Act once a failing has been brought to our attention, by either incorporating it in our short or long term plan
- We will continue to seek the views of our customers through customer satisfaction surveys
- Ensure all hazards are removed once brought to our attention, or highlighted as a hazard
