RiDC (Research Institute for Disabled Consumers)

Next week RiDC will be launching the reports for our ‘Re-imagining retail’ project! The topic of retail accessibility was chosen by our pan-impairment panel of disabled consumers who want to see the issue of inaccessibility of retail addressed to enable accessible and enjoyable shopping experiences. We collaborated with disabled people and retailers to create: • Accessibility guidelines to support retailers in understanding the barriers that disabled people face and solutions to help address the inaccessibility of physical retail spaces. • A technical report, providing detailed insights: into the shopping behaviour of disabled people; the barriers experienced when trying to access retail spaces, both online and in-store; the impact of these barriers on shopping behaviour, physical and mental wellbeing; existing best practice; solutions to address the inaccessibility of retail spaces. • A summary report providing an overview of our research. Our outputs will be available on our website next week. We would like to thank our panel members and retailers for their contributions to this research. A special thank you to our Steering Group of five panel members who guided the research throughout. If you are a disabled, Deaf, neurodivergent, or whatever self-describing term you use, click the link in our bio to visit our website and sign up to our panel. We will be sending our panel a sway about our research along with links to the reports! Video description: Carol visiting three supermarkets using a powered wheelchair. (hashtags) #Accessibility #ReImaginingRetail #InclusiveResearch #Retail

The latest report from the National Centre for Accessible Transport (ncat) suggests that journey-planning is a significant barrier to travel for more than a fifth of disabled people. 'Understanding and Addressing the Gap in Transport Accessibility Data' sheds light on the critical data deficiencies impacting disabled travellers. 🔍 Key Insights: 21% of surveyed disabled people identified journey planning as a significant barrier. 30% of respondents plan their journeys through a friend, family member, carer, or personal assistant and 23% of disabled adults do not have access to the internet Accurate, real-time data is key 📣 Call to Action: Transport authorities, tech developers, and policymakers must collaborate to standardise and enhance data quality. Disabled passengers need real-time data on assistance staff availability and service disruptions, and current data sources need greater accuracy and detail. 🔗 Read the Full Report here https://lnkd.in/dQiBM3A7 #TransportAccessibility #AccessibleTransport #TransportPlanning #InclusiveTravel #InclusiveDesign #ncat #WebDesign

Including disabled people in the future of mobility is essential, so we're delighted that our Chair, Sandra Witzel, is part of this event. MOVE brings together people and organisations to learn, innovate and push boundaries in transport design. MOVE 2025 📍 18–19 June | ExCeL London #MOVE2025 #FutureOfMobility #EV #AutonomousVehicles #InclusiveTransport #AccessibleTransport

The information is out there, now it needs to be used. If you're involved in designing any aspect of transport - including the booking system for planning journeys - then do use this database from the National Centre for Accessible Transport (ncat). Information has been collated from research with a broad range of disabled people and gives insight into the accessibility barriers that currently exist. #TransportPlanning #TransportDesign #AccessibleTransport #Accessibility

“Disabled people are invisible to the tech world,” and are left out of the design process “because it is not profitable to include them” — Britt H Young Brilliant article by Marine S. for the Financial Times. Marine spoke to our CEO, Gordon McCullough in researching this article and he is quoted here. Again our message is that disabled people need to be involved at the very start of the design process - in this case for AI powered devices and assistive technology.

Are disabled drivers being left behind in the transition to electric vehicles? 🤔 We spoke to Gordon McCullough, CEO of the RiDC (Research Institute for Disabled Consumers) to find out how the move to electric vehicles and emerging self-driving car technology are affecting disabled drivers ⚡️ https://buff.ly/VCNQtwp

Why do organisations work with us? They come to us to better understand the needs of their disabled customers or service-users so that they can make what they offer more accessible. As a specialist research organisation, we have a panel of more than 4,000 disabled and older people who take part in surveys, mystery shopping, user-testing, focus groups and more. We're an organisation that's led by disabled people, many of our staff and trustees included. Our ongoing relationship with Network Rail is testament to the skills of our research team. How can we help your organisation? #InclusiveResearch #Accessibility #DisabledPeople #Inclusion

Are disabled drivers being left behind by the transition to EVs? This is the question our CEO, Gordon McCullough, addresses in his interview with What Car? magazine. As with so many other products and services, making charging points more accessible, cables lighter and creating fewer trip hazards at charging stations, is beneficial to everyone. But is the infrastructure being designed that way? He also explores the issue of autonomous vehicles and why their development needs disabled people's input now. #EVs #EVCharging #ElectricVehicles #AutonomousVehicles #ChargingNetwork https://lnkd.in/ePcC9Dfn