National Inclusion Week is about a lot of things - gender, race, religion, LGBTQ+ identity, social mobility, and disability all have a seat at this table. At Euan's Guide, we think of inclusion from one specific angle: can a disabled person actually find the information they need - before they leave the house - to know if they'll be able to get in the door?
That sounds like a small question. It isn't.
Our research consistently shows that most disabled people won't risk a new venue unless they can confirm the access first, and most venues still don't make that easy. A step at the entrance isn't really the barrier. Not knowing about the step until you're standing in front of it is.
That's why Euan and Kiki created EuansGuide.com over a decade ago, and it's why inclusion, to us, means something quite practical: information that's accurate, written by people who've actually visited and actually understand, so nobody has to take a risk on an afternoon out based on poor or non-existent access information.
This year's National Inclusion Week theme is "Build Trust. Navigate Change."
We'd argue these two things are the same task when it comes to disability access. Trust isn't built with a statement on a website saying a venue is "committed to accessibility." It's built with specifics. Where the accessible entrance is, whether the toilet has grab rails, how wide the doorways really are. Change happens when businesses treat that information as basic customer service, not an afterthought.
So this week, our ask is a simple one with a big impact: if you run a venue, list your access information on Euan's Guide, for free. If you're one of the tens of thousands of people who use the site, please leave a review of somewhere you've been - good or bad. Every listing and review makes the next person's trip a little less stressful.
Inclusion week is for everyone. For us, it starts with everyone being able to find out if they're welcome before they arrive.
