BTA1655 - Digital Accessibility Guides & Supporting Services

VisitBritain/VisitEngland are publishing this notice as a VEAT (Voluntary Ex ante Transparency Notice) with a view to directly awarding a contract to Disabled Enabled Limited t/a AccessAble for the provision of a new Accessibility Guides self-survey tool.

It is proposed that this Accessibility Guides self-survey tool will be used for smaller and less complex tourism businesses in England, on an existing digital platform, with supporting services and access to an established on-site surveyor-assessment service for larger and more complex businesses.

VisitBritain/VisitEngland are publishing this notice as a VEAT (Voluntary Ex ante Transparency Notice) with a view to awarding a contract to Disabled Enabled Limited t/a AccessAble for the provision of a new Accessibility Guides self-survey tool.

51% of adults in England who identify as disabled did not take a holiday in England in the last 12 months, compared to 40% of non-disabled people (Participation Survey 2021/22). Provision of accessibility information is a key barrier to disabled people participating in tourism:

• 92% of disabled people look for accessibility information before visiting somewhere new and
• 56% avoid visiting a venue if it has not shared its accessibility information, assuming it is inaccessible (Euan’s Guide Survey 2021).

In response to this, VisitEngland (VE) created a standard approach for tourism venues to provide this information – Accessibility Guides (formerly Access Statements). An Accessibility Guide is a customer-facing marketing document that details the accessibility of a venue so that people with accessibility requirements can make an informed decision as to whether it will meet their individual requirements.

VE has made available a template tool for tourism operators to use to produce their Accessibility Guides since 2007. Research by VE in 2022 provides strong evidence that the disabled consumer supports the provision of Accessibility Guides and as a result will further develop the Accessibility Guides initiative.

The current tool, provided in-house (and in-partnership with VisitScotland (VS)), is approaching end of life. Therefore, VE proposes to award a contract to AccessAble (an established, dedicated external body) to extend their existing access information provision offer, by developing a new tool on their existing platform (and provide supporting services) that would allow smaller and less complex tourism businesses to create and publish their own Guide for free.

The contracting authority specifically requires the established AccessAble brand and platform as it is uniquely placed to bring the credibility, visibility and consistency needed by the consumer, reducing duplication by providing a whole-of-industry solution nationwide.

VE may also grant licences to other National Tourist Boards (NTBs). The consistency of approach across nations brought about by such licence arrangements would be of great benefit to not only travellers with accessibility requirements but also visitor economy businesses that have venues located in the different nations of Britain.

This approach would form a key action in support of the Government’s ambition to make the UK the most accessible tourism destination in Europe by 2025, by delivering a step change in how the industry tackles a key barrier to disabled people participating in tourism.

The maximum value of the proposed contract to AccessAble by the contracting authority shall not exceed £175,000 ex VAT. The proposed contract is intended for a three year period, with the option to extend for 2 further periods of 12 months each.

If any supplier has concerns with the award intentions outlined within this VEAT Notice, please raise this via: [email protected] in the first instance within 10 days of the date of this Notice.

The closing date of this VEAT is midday on 3rd April 2023.