Furnishing Your Cafe for Accessibility and Inclusivity

When you are furnishing or refurbishing your café, you have a legal obligation to ensure it is accessible to people with disabilities. Under the Equality Act 2010, suitable adjustments must be made to accommodate the needs of customers and employees with disabilities.

According to the 2021 census, there are 10.4 million (17.8% of the population) people classed as disabled and by ensuring their needs are met in your café will ensure your establishment is not only accessible, but it could open more opportunities for your business. Here we look at the type of café furniture you can invest in to make your space more inclusive and welcoming to everyone.

Choosing the Right Cafe Furniture

Choosing the right café furniture will make all the difference when it comes to making the space more accessible and inclusive.

Look for simple design ideas that offer choices to disabled customers. For example, sit and stand tables give customers two options when it comes to eating and drinking. Table height is also a consideration to factor in, as some customers may find it more difficult than others to use a traditional table.

Ergonomic furniture offers support to customers with body mobility issues across a broad spectrum. Seats with shorter depths and elevated arms can provide a better option than standard café seating, enabling people to eat in comfort.

Inclusive furniture should be adaptable to your environment and offer good flexibility for customers who need it. Poor inclusive furniture design can ruin the experience for some customers, making them feel unwelcome, which is not good for them or your business.

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Making Your Cafe for Everyone

When you open your café there are no restrictions on the type of person who can enter your premises and the space needs to reflect that.

The same principle applied to traditional café furniture also should be applied to accessible café furniture, ensuring there is sufficient space around it to allow people to move around without difficulty.

Profit is important but so is the customer experience, so as you would with non-accessible café furniture, avoid overcrowding with too many items. People in wheelchairs should be able to navigate the entrance and spaces in-between seating areas without any difficulties, so automatic doors could help here.

Also think about:

• Stairs and elevation
  If your café has stairs or elevation on the ground floor, look for solutions that will enable people with mobility issues to move through the space without unnecessary obstacles being in the way.
  
• Lighting
  Good lighting will not only improve the overall ambience of the café but aid people with visual impairments (the NHS estimate 2 million people [GS1] have some form of sight loss) and help to reduce the likelihood of accidents occurring.
  
• Acoustics
  Improving the acoustics will help people with hearing impairments. Think about how materials and surfaces affect the acoustics, with plenty of sound-dampening options available that could also enhance the style and functionality of your café.
  
• Storage
  Providing storage spaces can help all customers, especially in terms of accessibility. Many disabled people use mobility devices and equipment and having the option to store whilst in your café will make the space feel far more inclusive.
  
• Tables with a Brightly Coloured Edge
  To make access easier for partially sited people try using a bright colour on the edge of the table top. This will help them avoid knocking in to the table and help them locate the seat.
  
• Tables with rounded corners
  This is the same principle as the colourful edge tables. Square tables with rounded corners will help your customers navigate the cafe with ease.

Enhancing the Experience

First impressions count for everyone and for your café to be more accessible it has to be ‘accessible’ to allow disabled people to enter.

The first thing to do is to invest in a portable ramp to allow wheelchair users to access your café, along with a sign that says a ramp is available upon request. Adding a doorbell to notify staff is also a good idea. Other features you can add include:

• Larger text on signs and menus so it can be understood easily by everyone.
• Look at bathroom accessibility and whether you have the right facilities available.
• Ensure water is made available for service dogs and make it clear that they are welcome.
• Train staff so they can provide an inclusive service to make all customers feel welcome.

Technology can also have a role to play in making your café more inclusive. Whether the menu is digital or printed you could make it more accessible to blind people or individuals with low vision. Print braille menus or offer the option to download the menu on a mobile that can be read by people with impaired eyesight.

Final thoughts

Making your café more accessible can seem like a daunting task, so a good place to start might be to speak with a local disabled charity or advocacy organisation who can offer some guidance. Speaking directly with the people these changes will benefit will help you to make the right alterations and invest in areas that can make a real difference to your customers and your business. Once your café becomes known as an accessible space it opens your services up to a wider community and more opportunities for growth.

Do you need accessible cafe furniture to improve your inclusivity?

Spaceist is an established café furniture supplier that works cafes, coffee shops and restaurants of all sizes. Whether you are refurbing an existing space or looking to set up a brand new cafe, we can help you find the right accessible cafe furniture to support the needs of your customers. Take a look at our website or come and visit us at our 2,500 sq. ft. showroom. Get in touch with our team today to find out more.