The provision of accessible goods and services to disabled people akin to that of able-bodied customers, enables a business to enhance its reputation for high standards of customer care and advocates champions of human rights legislation. This will in turn lead to customer loyalty and potential increase in turnover and subsequently, profits.

However, current attitudinal and social factors relating to disability need to be more fully considered in customer care policies and strategies if facilities and businesses are to retain and broaden their access to the grey (elderly) and disabled markets.

Attitudes to disabled people within society are changing in many areas of the world. There is now a growing ethos of social inclusion and the acceptance and embracing of cultural diversity. In the UK the present government is actively promoting the values of social diversity and citizenship.

Benefits of adjustments;
(Department for Work and Pensions / Disability Rights Commission)

• The most common benefit was a direct and obvious one, namely that the service had become more accessible



• The second most common benefit cited was that customer satisfaction had increased (in some cases a third or more or those making an adjustment cited this)



• Other benefits cited by a minority of respondents (and varying between the adjustments in question) included;



• An increased number of disabled customers



• Improvement in the external image of and reputation of the establishment



• Higher staff morale



• Benefits for other groups of customers/customers in general.



• The overall assessment of the vast majority of establishments, which have made adjustments for disabled customers, is that the associated benefits are greater than, or equal to, the costs.