Accessibility is all about putting people first, even in places where you might not find many people at all.
Shopping centres and sports arenas need to be accessible to the thousands of people who visit every week. It’s the same with transport interchanges and entertainment venues.
But all these places have quieter, restricted areas which also need to be accessible. Indeed some organisations only have restricted areas, places where hardly any outsiders are allowed in, but we are because someone has to make sure the space and facilities are accessible.
In visiting these locations to do our job we obviously have to abide by the rules, but the same applies anywhere else. Every organisation has its secrets, whether that’s confidential data about staff, customers and suppliers or high value commercial and financial information.
We very rarely name our clients in these articles, and when we do that’s only with their agreement. One reason for such reticence is the fact that businesses which make their premises and services more accessible than others can expect to gain a commercial advantage, and you wouldn’t expect them to shout about that until the measures are in place and the benefits are being accrued.
It follows that we’re not going to identify our clients in this article either, but we can draw on some of the information which has been placed in the public domain by some people who like to keep a secret or two.
Parliament’s website has a section all about accessibility. It starts by referencing the public transport approaches to the site before continuing to highlight the availability of accessible loos, permanent induction loops in most venues, lifts and wide corridors which in the main are not carpeted, thereby making manoeuvrability easier for wheelchair users. Guide dogs, hearing dogs and other assistance dogs are welcome, and Parliament provides visitor assistants in and around the building.
Public access is important but so is provision behind the scenes and that’s addressed by ParliAble, one of a series of Workplace Equality Networks set up to promote diversity. It offers support, signposting and other services and it invites input from outsiders to improve accessibility within the corridors of power.
The levels of secrecy at GCHQ are everything you would expect from the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agency, but it also recognises that it needs “the right mix of minds to tackle some of the biggest security issues facing us today.”
The organisation is proud of its workplace adjustment process for people with disabilities, health conditions and those who are neurodivergent, which includes dyslexia and dyspraxia toolkits. It has a team of Mental Health First Aiders, it has signed up to the Time to Change pledge set up by Mind to tackle the stigmas around discussing mental health in the workplace and it operates a Disability Employee Network.
It’s important that restricted areas are accessible and for all the usual reasons. Even if they are closed to the public they still need to be accessible to staff and others – visiting contractors, dignitaries and other VIPs.
In our experience of assessing access in and around government buildings and other secretive sites we have found the staff to be open-minded and keen to improve accessibility.
They understand and accept that however secret a site may be, we still have to tell them the truth because they have to know what they are doing well and where they need to improve.
Some of the environments in which we work can be designated top secret for political, military or commercial reasons. It could be a health or education facility, or any other type of organisation that works with sensitive data.
We don’t need access to that data but we do need to visit the space and take photographs, storing them in the order in which they were taken so that when you are back at your desk you can re-create the journey you took around a site. That’s a big help in setting context.
However just as in everyday life the sight of a camera can make some people uneasy, and that’s especially the case in a location where confidentiality is paramount. If necessary we use a phone because it doesn’t arouse the same level of concern – it’s less obtrusive and it still has the modern features we need for our work.
We expect to be accompanied at all times on our visits and we accept that because it helps us show that we can operate in partnership in sensitive areas.
Even the most secretive organisations take an inclusive approach. MI6 operates a number of groups operated by staff to support diversity, including one dedicated to awareness of disability.
MI5 is accredited with the government’s Disability Confident Scheme and acknowledges that better diversity and inclusion is central to the future of an organisation where an in-depth knowledge and understanding of a variety of communities is crucial.
How far can they go with that? Is it time for a black James Bond? Or a female James Bond? Will we ever have a disabled James Bond? Maybe we already have, and he chose to keep his impairment a secret?
