Accessible Swan Business

In 2022, the City of Swan’s Economic Development team created a Business Support and Enhancement Plan, which identified a gap in accessibility support for businesses – especially relevant given the ageing population and national disability discussions.

After research and consultation, the City launched a pilot program with 10 local businesses. Each received an accessibility review and report, with recommendations for improvements.

Businesses could choose which changes to implement, and customer trends were monitored post-upgrades to assess impact.

Project cost

$8,000

• $4,000 to purchase access review checklists.
• $3,000 to film the Accessible Swan Businesses campaign.
• $1,000 for marketing.

Project timeframe

After 12 months of planning and consultation, an eight-month pilot was launched, with evaluation undertaken over the following year.

What was the problem or opportunity being addressed?

The City of Swan’s Economic Development team saw an opportunity to both increase patronage at local businesses and support people with accessibility needs to try new places. Once a business is accessible, and people know they can access their goods and services easily, they will generally return with their friends, family or carers. From an economic perspective, this was seen as an opportunity to increase local spend while also ensuring community members’ needs are met.

How the project addressed the problem or opportunity

The project started with a structured project management plan and clearly defined scope: 

Develop a resource/program that helps businesses understand the benefits of improving access and inclusion in their business and provide guidance to identify and improve accessibility barriers for people with disability.

During planning, the City of Swan project team explored how accessibility and inclusion could support economic development. Extensive consultation included people with lived experience of disability, service providers, businesses, and all levels of government.

Early input from Amber Dennis, founder of WheelieGoodPerth, was pivotal to shaping the pilot program. The pilot approach was chosen to create collateral to demonstrate to businesses that improved accessibility has economic benefits and that the improvements don’t need to be difficult or expensive. 

The team researched what makes a business accessible, considering different disabilities and industry needs. To encourage participation, messaging focused on emphasising the economic advantages and simplicity of improving accessibility.

Businesses were invited via the City’s newsletter and direct outreach, which resulted in a greater success rate. Once 10 businesses joined, recruitment closed.

Accessibility assessments were completed as follows:

• Six businesses were assessed by accessibility consultant, WheelieGoodPerth, and funded by the City of Swan
• Three businesses were assessed by People With Disability WA’s Business Accessibility Empowerment Program, a government funded initiative
• One business used the Tourism Council of Western Australia’s (TCWA) business accessibility program, funded by TCWA.

The pilot phase took place over eight months, during which time each business was audited, provided with their report and given time to make changes. 

Project outcomes

The pilot program saw mixed results across the  10 participating businesses. Some chose not to act beyond receiving their audit report, others faced landlord restrictions, and a few were undergoing business changes that affected timing. 

Three businesses stood out for their proactive improvements:

Midland Adventure Golf acted quickly after their WheelieGoodPerth audit, adjusting a heavy toilet door within two weeks – an easy, cost-free fix that improved accessibility.

The Colony of Midland relocated condiments to a lower height for easier access. While they couldn’t modify shared toilet facilities, they made meaningful changes within their control. 

The House of Honey underwent the TCWA accessibility review in late 2023 and made changes to be able to gain TCWA accreditation for five categories. The changes they made to gain TCWA accreditation included: 

• Creating an online accessibility guide
• Training staff in access and inclusion
• Creation of a large-font menu
• Provision of accessible seating.

After achieving accreditation, the House of Honey decided to take their accessibility journey even further, including creating an accessible alfresco space, hosting inclusive workshops, and website upgrades to include a virtual walk-through tool with capability to measure space heights/widths.

The House of Honey has reported a definite increase in sales. Findings include:

• Accessible needs bookings more than doubled over 12 months (from 80 bookings in May 2023 to nearly 180 in May 2024)
• Revenue from accessible bookings more than doubled in the same period
• Seniors bus groups increased by 30% on the previous financial year statistics
• The ‘Book it now’ website button increased café reservations by 66%.

While these examples are not the complete audit outcomes, they do provide a sample of the simple changes a business can make to improve accessibility and create a more inclusive customer experience.