Making shops accessible to people with disabilities is key to their equal inclusion in society. In some countries, the establishment of accessible online ordering and home delivery of grocery products has been mentioned as an alternative to store redesign. This type of service undoubtedly gives people with disabilities greater independence in their daily lives, but it deprives them of the opportunity to socialise, socialise and meet. That is why we at the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia consider it very important to discuss how a shop should be arranged in a way that allows all people with disabilities to visit and buy at least basic groceries.
Unfortunately, there is no mention in Slovenian legislation on how to properly regulate the physical accessibility of the specific spaces and elements that make up grocery stores, despite the fact that the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities Act (EODA) requires them to be universally accessible by the end of 2025.
Thus, the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, in cooperation with students with disabilities, has been focusing more intensively on this topic in recent months. We have looked at current foreign legislation and guidelines that already dictate such arrangements for grocery stores and researched how they work in practice. Based on our expertise and the accessibility assessments we have carried out on public buildings, we have developed basic recommendations for the appropriate provision of accessible shops.