10 Things You Can Do To Help Make Disabled People Feel More Welcome In Your Restaurant
The Rezku Team
As a restaurant owner or manager, ensuring your establishment is accessible and welcoming to disabled patrons is not only the ethical choice, but it enhances customer satisfaction, loyalty and your brand’s reputation.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sets minimum requirements for equal access, but going above and beyond can pay dividends in making all guests feel respected and comfortable.
In this article we present ten practical tips restaurants can follow to help create a more inclusive dining experience for disabled patrons.
Ten Practical Accommodations to Welcome the Disabled
1. Ease Physical Accessibility
While disabled parking is already required, additional steps can be taken to aid those with mobility issues, design a restaurant entrance with a gently sloping ramp and a smooth transition between doorways. Install guard rails that can be used to help with stability. Wide doorways and aisles will allow for easier wheelchair navigation.
2. Provide Accessible Seating Options
Have some tables available that accommodate wheelchairs by allowing the height to be adjusted enough for clearance space underneath. Offer some chairs with sturdy armrests to assist in supporting diners with mobility issues when sitting down or standing up.
3. Welcome Service Animals
All restaurants must follow rules allowing legitimate service animals to accompany their handlers. Additional steps can be taken to create a more service animal friendly environment. Post at entrances that service animals are welcome, ensure staff are familiar service animal policy and that they don’t attempt to pet or distract the animals.
4. Create a Sensory-Friendly Space
For those with sensory issues, they will find value in a space free of loud noises, bright lights and strong smells. Minimize strong smells in the dining area and bathrooms, opt for indirect lighting, and have a quieter seating area available when possible.
5. Train Staff in Disability Etiquette
Enroll employees in a course on how to properly communicate and assist disabled guests without being condescending, invasive or impatient. Cover subjects such as making eye contact when speaking to wheelchair users and avoiding use of linguistic idioms that could confuse those with cognitive disabilities.
6. Be Patient and Attentive
Not all disabilities are immediately visible. When conversing with guests who seem to have difficulties with verbal communication, exercise care and attentive listening. Be patient, avoid rushing, and allow them extra time to clarify if needed.
7. Accommodate Special Dietary Needs
Some dietary requests are due to a guest’s medical needs. To ensure diner safety, staff should ask diners about allergies before taking their order. In the menu, use easy-to-identify icons to mark items with common food allergens. Ensure kitchen staff follow protocols to avoid cross-contamination.
8. Provide Accessible Menus
To help visually impaired guests, make available large-print, high-contrast menus. Braille menus can be ordered from National Braille Press and BrailleWorks. Use an online menu with accessibility features such as contrast adjustment, intelligent text scaling and screen reader compatibility.
9. Promote Accessibility Online
Make sure diners know that your restaurant is a disabled-friendly option. On your website and social media, highlight accessible amenities like wheel-chair compatible entrances, convenient parking, and specialty menus to attract disabled diners.
10. Ask for Feedback
Solicit ongoing input from disabled patrons. Ask how the accommodations suited them and if there is anything you could better address their needs or make the feel more welcome. Work to implement all reasonable suggestions.
Conclusion
Making your restaurant a welcoming place for the disabled allows you to better serve a significant segment of the population while promoting your restaurant as a disability-friendly space.
Following these 10 recommendations will go a long way to demonstrating an authentic commitment to inclusion that will be appreciated by disabled individuals and their friends and families.
This free resource is part of a series of articles on restaurant management and operations provided by Rezku. Rezku provides point of sale and management technology exclusively for restaurants.
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