Licensees are being urged to open their doors to guide dogs and their owners following concern that some outlets are still not making them welcome.
The Access for All initiative was launched last week by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. It aims to highlight best practice in pubs and restaurants but also raise awareness of the problems encountered by guide-dog owners in outlets.
Licensees and their staff are also being encouraged to provide other additional services such as Braille menus to make their pubs more accessible to blind or partially-sighted customers.
The initiative will also be unveiling the results of research into attitudes to guide dog owners. This will take place at the JD Wetherspoon pub in Victoria station in London on October 1.
Under the Disability Discrimination Act it is illegal for licensees to provide a lesser standard of service for disabled customers and this includes allowing guide dogs onto the premises.
Access for All is launching a phoneline, on 08000 131717, which outlines licensees' legal responsibilities and also a list of advice on how to make guide dog owners welcome.
Tips include:
Do
- speak to them first, the dog second
- see them to an appropriate table
- offer the dog water
- take the order and serve at the table
Don't
- make a fuss of the dog - it is working
- feed the dog
- ignore the guide dog owner.
The association's chief executive, Geraldine Peacock, said: "More than 1.4million people are visually impaired in the UK, which represents a sizeable proportion of people who have money to spend. Welcoming them with excellent service makes good business sense and avoids falling foul of the law."