Make Your Business Sensory Friendly

Are you like many other businesses in the following ways? You want to increase your customer base. You are interested in being more accessible. Inclusion is important to you. Maybe, you’ve heard about sensory-friendly hours. And, now you wonder if that is a fit for your business? You think you might already have some sensory-friendly features at your business. But, you don’t know what to do next. To help, there is a sensory-friendly self-assessment quiz, just for you! Sensory Friendly Solutions has launched a quiz for businesses and organization to check how sensory-friendly they currently already are. Furthermore, this quiz will highlight aspects of your business that could change to create a more inclusive space and experience for everyone. Read on to learn about benefits of completing the Sensory Friendly Solutions Self-Assessment Quiz and why you should make your business sensory-friendly.

Sensory-Friendly Self-Assessment Quiz

Sensory Friendly Solutions has developed a short quiz to assess the inclusivity of your business. There are 9 different questions in the self-assessment that help you determine the sensory-friendly aspects of your business. Additionally, it also addresses the current sensory-friendly aspects of your business. This may include inclusive aspects of the environment and the overall experience for your customers. Furthermore, the results of this quiz help you identify factors you can change to increase the accessibility of your business. Try completing the Sensory Friendly Solutions Sensory Friendly Quiz to learn more about sensory-friendly businesses!

Why take the sensory-friendly quiz?

You may be wondering why it is important to take the sensory-friendly quiz. Maybe you have already begun to take steps to make your business more sensory-friendly. Or maybe you think that making sensory-friendly changes are too expensive and difficult. Ultimately, there are many misconceptions about making sensory-friendly changes. Also, many people are unaware of the benefits of making their business more sensory-friendly. Therefore, this quiz helps you better understand what a sensory-friendly business is and changes you can make to improve accessibility and inclusion.

What is are sensory-friendly changes?

Firstly, it is important to know what sensory-friendly changes are. Simply put, sensory-friendly change consider the impact of the location and the experience of each of the 8 senses. This ensures that people with sensory sensitivity or who experience sensory overload enjoy the experience at your event or location.

Oftentimes, many stores are too busy, too noisy, and too bright. For people with sensory sensitivities, this makes going to events and locations stressful. Furthermore, this can lead to a sensory overload response. Therefore, making sensory-friendly modifications helps people with sensory sensitivity.

The benefits of making your business sensory-friendly

There are many benefits to making your business more sensory-friendly. The primary benefit is making your business more accessible to more people. Furthermore, it is important to note that up to 1/3 of the population experiences sensory sensitivities. This includes people with and without a sensory disorder diagnosis. However, there are certain diagnoses, disorders and/or disabilities that increase your sensitivities. For example, this includes individuals with anxiety, autism, PTSD, concussions, etc. Therefore, if your business isn’t sensory-friendly, you are limiting its accessibility to a large portion of the population.

Another group of individuals that appreciate sensory-friendly changes are older adults. Many people are unaware that sensory-friendly is also senior-friendly. Many businesses and environments are too stimulating for older adults. Furthermore, this limits their ability to enjoy a business’s services.

Additionally, more and more businesses are becoming sensory-friendly. For instance, check out the different ways that many local organizations and events in Calgary, Canada are making sensory-friendly modifications. Sensory-friendly initiatives happen around the world.

The simplicity of making a sensory-friendly business

Many people believe that sensory-friendly changes are difficult to do and costly. However, making these changes can be simple and minimal to no cost. Examples of simple and low-cost sensory-friendly changes include:

• Turn off background music.
• Turn off fluorescent lights.
• Provide sensory-friendly staff training.
• Decrease the number of people in the store at once.
• Provide noise-cancelling ear muffs.
• Offer comfortable seating in a quiet area.
• Create sensory-friendly shopping hours.

Additionally, it is important to understand that sensory preferences can differ. This means that what is pleasant and comfortable for one person may be stressful for someone else. Therefore, it is important to offer people different sensory-friendly options. For example, someone with visual hypersensitivity may be irritated with bright lights. However, someone with low vision may have difficulty with dimmed lighting. Therefore, offering low-cost sensory-friendly tools like sunglasses and earmuffs ensures that everyone can have a pleasant sensory experience.  

There are many reasons and benefits to make your business more sensory-friendly. Take the Sensory Friendly Solution Self Assessment Quiz to determine strategies to improve the inclusivity of your business.

Interested in learning more about sensory-friendly changes and reading about different examples of sensory-friendly businesses? Check out:  

• Attract more customers: become sensory-friendly.
• Autism hour vs. sensory-friendly shopping.
• Noise reduction in restaurants is key for attracting seniors.
• What Is a Sensory-Friendly Environment?
• How to Create a Sensory-Friendly Event
• Website Accessibility Includes Being Sensory-Friendly
• Make Your Veterinary Clinic Sensory-Friendly