Teapot, cup and flowers on a cafe table.
“I was in a well known Belgian owned coffee and pastry shop recently where their cups have no handles. When I explained that I couldn’t grip the cup without a handle, they told me that it didn’t suit their style to cater for people like me and that they didn’t get many ‘of my type’ in there. Little wonder.”
“Why don’t you just find a café that has cups with handles then?”
These are two of hundreds of comments made on a BBC News article of November 6th, about DisabledGo's survey of over 30,000 UK shops and restaurants. The first describes dreadful customer service and discrimination, and its response is typical of many of the comments made on the article that show that we've still got a way to go with changing attitudes as well as adapting buildings. The key findings of the report include:
“ Two thirds of retail staff have no training in how to help disabled customers; 40% of restaurants and a third of department stores do not have an accessible toilet; and 20% of high street shops have no ramps for wheelchairs.”
Providing an option of cups with handles is similar to providing a choice of seating in public spaces and many other aspects of inclusive design: different people have different needs. When it comes to sitting down for a rest the people who need to do so most are often denied the opportunity if seats without armrests are the only option. Anyone who has suffered back pain will know how difficult it is to stand up from a seat like this.
The Belgian-owned coffee and pastry chain lost a customer that day, and given the media's attention to the DisabledGo report, I imagine it will lose a few more.