Being inclusive and accessible is not just about the need to meet statutory obligations. With the accessibility market contributing £1.75 billion to Scotland, making improvements that target these customers can unlock huge benefits and grow your business. Discover the volume and spending power of visitors to Scotland who have accessibility requirements with our accessible and inclusive market statistics.
Inclusive business improvements
9 minute read• Last updated: 7 July 2026
Improving the accessibility of your business has clear benefits, both for you and your customers, but knowing where to start, or what steps to take next, can sometimes be daunting.
Regardless of the size or type of business you operate, there are always improvements you can make and they don’t always need to be costly, or take a long time to put in place to make a big difference.
Follow these simple and manageable steps to make your business more inclusive and accessible
What is the process?
Review your business
Look at your current service and consider how inclusive and accessible your business is currently and where improvements can be made. We can give you ideas on areas of your business to look at.
Improve your customer service, facilities and accessibility information
Build on your current inclusive practices and accessible facilities, starting with improvements that are simpler to introduce now. Make sure that your online accessibility information is up-to-date and easily available for customers.
Plan any larger changes you can make
Start to think about what improvements you want to achieve in the longer term. What actions need to take place and how will you prioritise improvements for the maximum impact?
Evaluate your progress
Gather feedback from customers, staff and partners. Which changes are working well, and which need to be tweaked?
Step 1: Review your business
Grant Arms Hotel, Grantown-on-Spey
© VisitScotland / Allan Myles
This is an opportunity to review your current inclusion and accessibility practices and facilities, and research what improvements are achievable.
Consider what accessibility improvements you could make to:
- customer welcome
- information and navigation
- features and facilities
Take a look at our suggestions for actions to improve your accessibility.
As well as making changes to physical facilities or staff processes, it’s really important to focus on your information and your marketing. You might have lots of great accessible features already in place, but if you aren’t telling people about them, you won’t get any accessible customers.
Find out more about how to market your accessibility.
As you review each area of your business, use our free accessibility improvements review template to make a list the improvements you want to make.
Step 2: Improve your business
The Green House, Ettrickbridge
© VisitScotland / Luigi Di Pasquale
Once you’ve reviewed your business, prioritise and plan the actions that you’ve identified. Focus on what is achievable for your business based on the resources you have right now.
For each of the improvements from your review:
- determine the timescales and budgets required
- prioritise the areas you plan on improving immediately
- decide who is responsible for implementing changes
- create a delivery plan to monitor progress
- keep staff informed and involved in the process
Remember you don’t want to take on too much at once, so find a way to prioritise your improvements such as looking at what is low effort but high impact.
First actions for improving your accessibility
Step 3: Plan (longer-term actions)
Transport Museum, Glasgow
© VisitScotland / Chris Watt
Planning longer-term improvements may often require more thought and investment of resources.
Consider those improvements which require greater investment (perhaps involving facilities and equipment). You may wish to prioritise these by considering those items which benefit the greatest number of your customers. You could get your Accessibility champion to come up with ideas for:
- targeting a customer group that is underserved currently in your area
- incorporating elements of inclusivity best practice from other businesses into your longer-term plans
Areas to consider in the longer term
Incorporating inclusive design
When carrying out any new build, or refurbishment, ensure that any designers, architects or planners are fully briefed on your aims to ensure that proposed designs are inclusive. This will help them understand the standards you are working to.
Find our more and request copies of our inclusive design guidance prepared for VisitScotland by AccessAble.
Working in partnership with others
You could join up with other local accessible businesses to share best practice and market your area to customers or consider working with local councils and others to achieve change in the public realm, eg ramped access to a beach.
Being more involved with your local community can also help you discover the impact your accessibility changes have made, as well as offer insights into further improvements. For example can you:
- work closely with, and listen to, your local community and any groups that represent people with accessibility requirements
- donate time to help and support local charities and community projects
Find details for local disabled people’s charities that you can build partnerships with at www.disabilityscot.org.uk.
Step 4: Evaluate
Burrell Collection, Glasgow
© VisitScotland / Kate Abbey
Monitor your progress against your action plan goals in the short, medium and long-term.
Decide how you will evaluate your progress
- How often will you monitor progress – weekly, monthly, quarterly?
- How will you capture the information you need for monitoring?
- Who is able to support you? eg other team members
- You may want to break down your evaluation into the key areas of:
- your team and customer service experiences
- information and promotion
- facilities and equipment
Find guidance on setting and reviewing your product standards.
Edinburgh Zoo
© Scottish National Zoological Society
Ask your staff about their own workplace experiences
Check regularly with staff and volunteers that your business is meeting with their accessibility requirements. You could undertake a staff survey to gather feedback anonymously.
Example staff survey questions
- Do you feel a sense of belonging and inclusion in the workplace?
- Do you have the necessary tools and equipment to perform your job effectively?
- Are you able to easily navigate the workplace and access all facilities?
- Are there any physical barriers or environmental factors that hinder your work?
- How would you rate the overall support provided to disabled employees?
- What suggestions do you have for improving the workplace experience for disabled employees?
Setting up a staff group
Having a permanent staff group with lived experience can help inform your plans. Check out this short film on the benefits from Merlin Entertainment.
Keep improving
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