Disability Enabling Network
Disability Access and Advocacy Consultancy Services.
Who Are We?
We support businesses (ranging from pubs to universities) to look deeper at what disability and accessibility mean for their business, their customers, and clients with accessibility needs.Our team members have lived experience with varied disabilities and are active academic researchers in the fields of disability and accessibility, including disability rights and legislation.Through our work, we promote a positive view of disability, accessibility, and disability awareness and give increased opportunities to future generations of those with disabilities.
We understand that ensuring accessibility can be challenging.
Our research shows three key reasons why companies, businesses, and institutions struggle:
- It's difficult to justify the budget or foresee the benefits.
- Some companies are unsure what accessibility means.
- Organisational issues regarding disability, e.g., lack of skills, or uncertain ownership of accessibility innovation and adherence.Can you relate?
Consulting
When discussing accessibility, we answer one question before we work with companies: "Why should you—the business or institution—care about accessibility?"
People with disabilities have an annual spending power of £247bn. If your company culture and attitude towards those with disabilities isn't inclusive, you're leaving money on the table.
DEN Is Here to Help
We understand that the world of disability and accessibility can be a scary place to navigate.
Therefore we want to be the guiding force that can help you understand what the spending is likely to be for your organisation, and in turn, what the benefits are likely to be.
DEN understands that accessibility does not just mean ramps and an accessible toilet. We also recognise that all businesses are different, and will have differing understandings of accessibility that may need to be unpacked.
Ensuring accessibility education, and implementation, while keeping your business operations consistent, is as important to us as it is to you.
Curtis Maxwell
CEO and Founder
Curtis attended the University of Plymouth, where he studied for a BA in Politics with International Relations and an MA in Global Security. His MA dissertation explored disability rights across Europe, using Sweden, Germany, and the UK as case studies. He focused on three areas; education, employment, and housing.
Curtis discovered that 48.3% of people with disabilities are not in employment, compared to 19% of those who do not have a disability.As someone with lived experience of mobilising in a wheelchair due to Cerebral Palsy, this left him angry. He started to research reasons for such a large disparity, and the main reason he discovered was accessibility.To tackle this, the Disability Enabling Network was born.
Our Mission is Simple
For businesses:
We consult with businesses to support them in being inclusive spaces for people with disabilities. Our goal is to improve the lives of those with disabilities through education, training, and consulting on disability and accessibility.
For those with disabilities:
Disability doesn’t just affect those who live with disabilities; it also affects the families, friends, and carers of those with disabilities. DEN aims to facilitate support networks for the wider caring network with their mental health and health needs.
Through consulting with businesses, we are able to provide choices to disabled people so they can live their lives in a way that’s authentic to them, rather than facing unnecessary restrictions that previous generations endured.