Inclusive Shopping Environments
**Making shopping even more inclusive and accessible**
Visible and non-visible disabilities
Estimates indicate that 21% of people in the UK have a disability (1 in 5).¹
Disabilities occur in many different forms. Some people will experience a disability that is outwardly visible to others, whilst others will experience a disability that has no, or little, outward visible signs. Many people will experience a combination of these. Examples of non-visible disabilities include autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, mental health conditions, sensory impairments, or living with significant chronic pain. ¹ DPTAC position statement on non-visible disabilities - GOV.UK
Every Customer Matters
‘Every Customer Matters’ is a new learning module for our colleagues that aims to build awareness of the different needs of shoppers and empower colleagues to provide an inclusive and accessible shopping experience for all our customers. In line with our Happy to Help commitment, we want to make sure that every one of our stores is welcoming, accessible and inclusive, and that starts with equipping our colleagues with the knowledge and confidence to support the diverse needs of our customers. With that in mind, all our new store colleagues complete Every Customer Matters, an interactive module in our Retail Ready learning curriculum.
Makaton
Happy Little Helpers
Our Happy Little Helpers initiative is a free shopping list board game available at the Customer Service Desk in our large stores. We have been working with The Makaton Charity to provide Happy Little Helper Boards with Makaton counters – which are designed to make shopping trips feel less intense and more enjoyable for people with learning and communication difficulties.
Sunflower Allies
Asda store colleagues have been trained to be Sunflower Allies within the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme. The sunflower lanyards provide a symbol people can wear to indicate they have a hidden disability.
Dementia support
For people with dementia or other hidden disabilities, background noise can be distracting and disorientating and we have increased shopfloor training in dementia so our colleagues understand the impact of dementia and how it changes customers’ needs.
Online Shopping Experience: Asda Groceries Accessibility
We want those with disabilities and other conditions to use our site as easily as anyone else. We are working hard on this and still have a lot to do.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 set 3 levels of accessibility:
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A (low)
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AA (mid-range)
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AAA (high)
The Asda Groceries website and app meet A standard, with many pages meeting AA standard. We aim to bring the site and app up to AA standard.
Our work so far:
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We carry out usability tests with users who have access needs.
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We carry out regular accessibility audits and fix problems.
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We try to write clear, simple English.
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We have built a design system to AA standard.