One of the major challenges facing the retail sector is to ensure that its various distribution channels are accessible to all consumers. The need for appropriate structures to cater for all forms of disability is backed up by a legal framework, with the authorities having been implementing appropriate measures for several years.
Nowadays, it's natural to see in-store equipment dedicated to accessibility. However, there is still room for improvement in the shopping experience, and there are many avenues for improvement.
Making your point of sale accessible to the disabled
In the wake of the law commonly referred to as the " Disability Act In accordance with the "Etablissements Recevant du Public" (ERP) law of 2005, retail outlets are required to be accessible to all forms of disability as of January 1.er January 2015.
Thus, any ERP must be able to take into account motor disabilities; the two families of sensory disabilities, auditory and visual; and mental, cognitive and psychic disabilities. As a reminder, over 12 million people in France are affected by a disability.
The design work for retailers then had to be carried out on the " seven key areas of building accessibility ".
- Entrance (ramps; minimum width 1.20 m...)
- Reception, for example with compulsory markings to ensure visibility of glass doors
- Circulation (aisles at least 1.20 m wide; maneuvering area for wheelchairs at end of aisle, etc.).
- Cabins, where applicable (grab bar; maneuvering space; seating equipment, etc.)
- Sanitary facilities, where applicable (grab bar; minimum 1.50 m manoeuvring space...)
- Parking facilities, if any, with at least 2% adapted spaces
- Signage must be visible to all
In addition to the physical features of your sales outlets, attention must also be paid to the professional posture of your staff. To support you in this approach, the Délégation Ministérielle à l'Accessibilité has written a guide entitled Welcoming disabled people.
On January 28, 2021, a bill aimed at improving accessibility conditions for shopping centers and superstores was passed. In this context, a consultation process is underway between retail players and associations. In particular, the bill calls for the widespread introduction of the " silent hour " in sales outlets over 1,000 m², for the benefit of autistic people. This practice makes it possible to offer autistic people a shopping environment adapted to their syndrome. Washing machines are not used, micro announcements and background music are turned off, lights are dimmed...
Silent hour has been tried out, in collaboration with associations, by retailers such as Carrefour, which has deployed the practice in over 1,200 stores.
Measures to improve purchasing practices for people with disabilities are therefore continuing to evolve, and we need to keep a constant watch on these changes.
Accessibility and e-commerce
While accessibility in the retail sector often refers to physical facilities at the point of sale, it's now clear that digital customer paths must also take disability into account.
Since 1995, the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C (the main organization defining Web standards) has defined a series of guidelines for Internet accessibility. These are Web Content Accessibility Guidelinesor WCAG, became an ISO standard in 2012 (ISO/IEC 40500:2012). This documentation focuses on four main principles.
According to the WCAG, your website or application must first and foremost be perceptible. This refers in particular to the management of visual disorders (blindness, low vision, color blindness...), auditory and cognitive disorders ( dys disorders). This involves, for example, theuse of colors or contrasts; text size; subtitles, Braille or audiodescription on media; alternative texts for media...
The second principle is that your interface must be usable. In other words, it must be keyboard-accessible; offer sufficient time to read its content; not provoke any crisis by its visual content; it must be navigable. This last subject of navigation highlights the need to be UX-friendly on your digital channels. In fact, in addition to being essential for SEO and optimizing customer journeys on your pages, ergonomics is one of the pillars of accessibility.
The third point deals with the importance of being understandable. The rules laid down by W3C are to present readable text content, predictable navigation and to offer input assistance.
Finally, your website or application needs to be robust, i.e. compatible with different terminals and technologies, including assistive technologies.
In order to help companies understand and comply with all these principles, the organization proposes on the following page to discover a series of tools and techniques to improve the daily life of disabled people on the Web.
There are also a number of service providers who can check a website's level of accessibility. These include Accessible360, EqualWeb and UserWay.
As with physical sales outlets, it's essential to pay close attention to practices that facilitate access to your digital channels. In the United States, since 2010, it has been mandatory to comply with ADA(Americans with Disabilities Act) standards on your e-commerce site. Failure to comply can even result in legal action.
To take your accessibility policy a step further, innovative solutions exist to improve the online shopping experience for your customers with disabilities.
For example, brands such as Veepee, Leroy Merlin, Castorama, Leclerc and But have deployed an online assistance solution for the deaf and hearing-impaired. With Sourdlineconsumers are now able to communicate with the retailer's customer service department in sign language, via video calls.
With the same logic, Facil-iti is a solution that allows you to adapt the display of your site according to the handicap (visual / motor / cognitive / temporary need such as visual fatigue...) of the surfer. It has been adopted by a host of retailers, including Mr. Bricolage, CDiscount, Fnac and La Redoute.
Disability: working in retail
In the era of omnichannel and unified commerce, accessibility is a notion that needs to be taken into account across your entire distribution model. While it's important to address new consumer practices, it's also essential to offer inclusive buying paths, addressing people with any disability, across all your channels.
But being accessible doesn't just concern consumers. It is also a priority to integrate people with disabilities into Retail professions.
As a reminder, in the private sector, all employers with at least 20 employees must employ people with disabilities in a proportion of 6% of the total workforce. In the event of non-compliance, the company must pay a disability contribution, currently collected by URSSAF.
And yet, in 2007, more than half of all people recognized as (administratively) disabled were not employed.
On September 13, 2021, the E. Leclerc signed a partnership agreement withAgefiph (Association de Gestion du Fonds pour l'Insertion Professionnelle des Personnes Handicapées). The aim is to enable its various member employers to improve the hiring and inclusion of disabled workers within their teams. This initiative takes the form of HR support, including the deployment of dedicated services and tools.
The association also offers companies support in this accessibility process. For advice, financial aid and other services: Go to the Agefiph website.Agefiph website.
Let's also take the example of supply chain professions, which are increasingly able to accommodate disabled workers in their warehouses, thanks to the initiatives of distribution and logistics companies. This is particularly true of Amazon, DHL and ID Logistics.
If you want to implement a CSR strategy, and more specifically accessibility, within your company, Univers Retail is here to help >>. Contact us.
By Téo Leclercq