Making Your Office More Accessible
Julie Starr • October 9, 2023
It’s so important that we do all that we can to make life inclusive for everyone. As a business owner, it’s more important for you than for anyone else that you create an accessible environment for others. It doesn’t take too much to do this because all you need to do is look for a way to make your office inclusive for all who come through the doors. Equal-opportunity employers are those who are sought out by others. If you are the type of employer that includes everyone and opens the doors with better inclusion policies, people will flock to you.
From ensuring that you keep up with lift repairs in the building to making a point of adding ramps and low light switches for those in wheelchairs, you can do so much to ensure that your office better serves those with disabilities. With that to consider, here are the simple ways to make your office more accessible for others.
- Push education as much as possible. You can add all of the disability options through the office, and all you’ll have is a few lifts and ramps. You also need to educate those without disabilities to ensure proper integration into the office. This means arming all of your employees with the right knowledge about interacting with those in wheelchairs and with physical disabilities in the office. There is a chance that people don’t realize that they hold bias, and training and education will prevent that.
- Invest in good office and car park lighting. If you have people on the staff with partial vision, you have to ensure that you are appealing to their needs, too. Accessibility is about so much more than wheelchairs – it’s about all disabilities and ensuring that you are inclusive of all of them.
- Upgrade your office furniture . Your office furniture needs to be uniquely tailored to your employees but that’s to be the case for your employees that require accessibility. So, lower desks or desks that move as you need them, moveable chairs, and desks that can be easily navigated around are all important. You need to ensure that you have the right flooring, too, to make movement easy. Adding a lift into your office will also help as you can ensure that your office is accessible, too.
- Declutter. Having too much stuff lying around is a danger to everyone, not just those with high accessibility needs. You should try to make your office as clear of clutter as possible, in whatever way you can. There are a lot of things you might want to think about here. It might be wise, for instance, to make use of some self storage facilities so you can store items elsewhere. And generally make sure that you have a place for everything. If you can do that, it’s going to help a lot.
- Hire cleaners. This may not be the first thing that springs to mind but hiring cleaners for a more accessible office is important. You want to ensure that you don’t have to worry about clutter and trash everywhere, and you don’t want to have to worry about dirty floors and desks. Organization and cleaning is all-important so that you can keep everyone from having accidents as they move around the workplace.
Accessibility and inclusion are both important for your business. If you make sure that you have the right policies in place, you’re going to appeal to more candidates who want to work with employers that truly care.
The best branding doesn’t always come from big campaigns or expensive graphics. Sometimes it’s the smaller stuff that leaves the biggest impression. Things people actually use, touch, or carry with them. That’s where your brand can quietly make its mark without needing to shout about it. If you’re only focusing on social media and business cards, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Here are five overlooked ways to get your name out there that feel natural, useful, and more personal. Thank-you slips If you’re already sending out orders, there’s no reason not to include a short thank-you slip. You can easily get these made through any decent online print shop , and they’re usually pretty cheap to run off in small batches. Just a simple note that says thanks, maybe with a reminder to follow you online or a cheeky discount code for next time. It’s quick, thoughtful, and makes the whole order feel more finished. Customers notice that kind of detail, especially when everything else they buy online comes with zero personality. You don’t need a complicated design either. Just something clean with your logo, a message that sounds like you, and maybe a social handle. The point is to give them a reason to come back or remember your name without it feeling forced. Branded zip pouches If you sell physical products, offer services, or run events, small zip pouches are surprisingly effective. Think of the kind you’d use for stationery, receipts, or travel bits. You can get your brand printed on the side and hand them out with purchases or include them in welcome packs. People keep them because they’re actually useful. They get tossed in handbags, school bags, or glove boxes and your logo just keeps turning up. Cleaning cloths for glasses or screens This one works brilliantly if you’re in tech, health, beauty, or anything involving screens or eyewear. A simple microfibre cloth with your branding on it can go a long way. Everyone needs one. Whether they use it for glasses, a phone screen, or their laptop, it’s something they hang onto. It’s not the kind of thing people throw away, and that means your name sticks around too. Receipt envelopes You might already use little envelopes to hand over receipts or business cards. Branding those envelopes is a small change that makes a big difference. Instead of someone getting a scruffy bit of paper in a plain sleeve, they’re handed something that feels a bit more finished. You can even add a message inside. Doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. A simple “thanks for visiting” or “see you next time” is enough to add a personal touch. Wet wipes or mini hand gels If your business is in hospitality, food, or anything hands-on, branded wet wipes or pocket-sized hand gels are surprisingly popular. People actually use them, especially at festivals, food stalls, pop-ups, or kids’ events. They end up in handbags or cars and stick around longer than you think. They don’t scream “marketing” either. They’re practical, and when done right, they make your business feel thoughtful. That’s what good branding does, it shows you’ve thought ahead.
What happens when students stop waiting for adults to fix things and start conducting their own energy audits? Money gets saved. The lights get switched off. Data gets analyzed. And a quiet revolution in sustainability begins—inside schools that once overlooked their own inefficiencies. Across the globe, student-led energy audits are proving that change doesn't always need to come from a policy shift or a major capital budget. Sometimes, it begins with a clipboard, a spreadsheet, and a group of curious minds asking: Why are the hallway lights on at noon when sunlight floods the building? The Energy Detectives These audits aren’t science fair projects. They’re rigorous investigations, often done in collaboration with facilities staff, local environmental nonprofits, or even engineering mentors. Students go from classroom to classroom measuring electricity usage, checking for phantom loads , and identifying where heat is escaping in winter or air conditioning is leaking in summer. One high school in Ontario saved over $12,000 a year after its Grade 11 physics students ran an energy audit and suggested simple changes—LED upgrades, motion sensors in bathrooms, and smarter heating schedules. They didn’t just propose ideas. They pitched them with spreadsheets, thermal images, and payback timelines. It worked. Learning That Pays Off—Literally Unlike textbook learning, these audits blend real-world math, environmental science, economics, and persuasive communication. Students aren’t just learning about sustainability. They’re doing it. And the savings add up. From dimming overlit hallways to reprogramming HVAC systems that run all weekend for empty buildings, students are surfacing blind spots that administrators often overlook. In some districts, their findings are influencing energy policy. Elsewhere, the audits have inspired school boards to hire sustainability coordinators—often alumni of the student programs themselves. There’s something poetic about a school funding new books or laptops from money saved by students who found out the vending machines didn’t need to be plugged in 24/7. Why This Matters More Than Ever With education budgets tightening and utility costs rising, every dollar saved is a dollar that can go back into classrooms. And here’s where it gets interesting from a family finance perspective, too. If you’re a parent setting aside money for post-secondary savings, every bit of school efficiency helps. Fewer energy costs might mean more programming, better STEM facilities, or even bursaries. That raises a broader point: when families save for their children’s future, they often look into RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). And many wonder—is a RESP deduction available on my taxes? While contributions themselves aren’t deductible, the gains grow tax-free, and students often pay little to no tax when they withdraw the funds during school. A Movement Worth Replicating These audits aren’t just an exercise in environmentalism. They’re leadership labs. Students learn how to spot inefficiencies, speak up in board meetings, and make a business case for change. They don’t just flip switches—they shift mindsets. And they carry these habits into adulthood. The result? A generation growing up not only with climate anxiety, but also with tools to tackle it.