Workplace Accessibility Training

Accessible Customer Service and Patient Experience

Creating services everyone can access

Every customer, patient and service user should be able to access services, understand information and participate as fully as possible. However, inaccessible information, unsuitable environments, inflexible processes, communication barriers and unrecognised support needs can prevent people from receiving an equitable experience.

Accessible Customer Service and Patient Experience: Creating Services Everyone Can Access equips customer-facing and patient-facing teams with the knowledge and practical skills to recognise barriers and respond confidently to individual needs.

Participants explore the complete service journey: from finding information and making initial contact through booking, arrival, waiting, service delivery, communication, reasonable adjustments, complaints and follow-up.

Combining practical accessibility principles with real-world customer and patient scenarios, the course helps employees create service experiences that are more accessible, inclusive and effective for everyone.

About this course

Who is this course for?

This course is ideal for employees at all levels, and particularly valuable for:

Customer Service Teams
Reception and Front-of-House Teams
Contact Centre and Telephone Teams
Patient Experience Teams
NHS and Healthcare Employees
GP, Dental and Community Healthcare Teams
Adult Social Care Employees
Clinical and Non-Clinical Patient-Facing Staff
Service Managers
Complaints and Patient Advice Teams
Housing and Local Authority Teams
Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Teams
Transport and Public Service Employees
Anyone responsible for delivering services to the public

What will the course cover?

Accessible and inclusive customer service
Disability, neurodivergence and sensory loss
The accessible customer and patient journey
Accessible websites, forms and appointment information
Clear and accessible communication
Identifying individual access needs
Recording and sharing communication requirements
Reasonable adjustments in service delivery
Accessible reception and waiting environments
Supporting interpreters, advocates and companions
Communicating directly with the individual
Responding to anxiety, distress and sensory overload
Accessible complaints and feedback
Creating consistent accessible services
Improving customer and patient experience

What will you learn?

Participants will leave the course better equipped to:

Recognise barriers throughout the customer or patient journey
Understand how different people may experience the same service
Ask respectfully about access and communication needs
Communicate information more clearly
Provide accessible ways for people to contact and use a service
Respond appropriately to requests for reasonable adjustments
Improve reception, waiting and service environments
Work effectively with interpreters, advocates and companions
Respond more confidently when somebody is anxious or distressed
Make complaints and feedback processes more accessible
Record and communicate agreed support accurately
Identify practical improvements within their own service area

Delivery

We understand that finding time for training can be challenging. That is why we offer flexible delivery options designed to fit your organisation’s schedule and ways of working.

This course is available in person, live online, or as a bespoke programme tailored to your organisation’s specific needs and objectives.

Duration

Full day (9.00am – 4.30pm)

Accessible information in health and social care

For NHS and publicly funded adult social care organisations, the course can incorporate the practical application of the Accessible Information Standard.

This includes how services identify, record, flag, share, meet and review the information and communication needs of disabled people and people with sensory loss.

Tailored to your organisation

Every workplace is different, which is why we tailor our training to your needs.

The course can be personalised around your organisation’s services, environments, customer journeys and existing accessibility processes. Realistic scenarios involving reception, telephone contact, online services, appointments, complaints and customer or patient interactions can be incorporated into the programme.

Healthcare versions can reflect patient pathways, local communication processes and the responsibilities of clinical and non-clinical teams.

The course is suitable for healthcare, social care, professional services, financial services, public sector, technology, education, retail, hospitality, leisure, transport and other customer-facing organisations across the wider market.

Ready to make your services easier for everyone to access and use?