A fitting room may seem like a relatively small part of a retail store, but Pamela Shainhouse remembers an experience years ago that changed where she was willing to spend her money.

Shainhouse, founder of accessibility and inclusion consultancy The Shainhouse Group, had gone into a store operated by a well-known Canadian retailer and found the accessible fitting room filled with boxes and being used for storage. When she questioned why the one space intended for customers requiring an accessible fitting room had effectively been taken away, she was told the store needed the storage space.

“I never shopped there again,” Shainhouse recalled. “If you’re not going to respect me as a person with a disability, then I’m not going to give you my money.”

For Shainhouse, who walks with a walker and has spent decades in the Canadian fashion industry, the encounter illustrates a much larger issue facing retailers. Accessibility is frequently approached as a building-code requirement, compliance exercise or accommodation for a relatively small group of customers. She argues that retailers should instead regard it as a fundamental part of customer experience, one that can determine whether somebody can enter a store, navigate it, make a purchase and ultimately decide to return.

The potential customer base is substantial. Statistics Canada found that 27 per cent of Canadians aged 15 and older, representing roughly eight million people, had one or more disabilities that limited their daily activities in 2022. Among people with disabilities, 72 per cent reported encountering at least one accessibility barrier during the previous year, including barriers involving physical spaces, communication, internet use and the behaviours or assumptions of others.

“People with disabilities can be incredibly loyal customers,” Shainhouse said. “If they know they can shop there, get what they need and be treated respectfully, they’ll come back.”

For retailers, she said, that makes accessibility a significant customer-experience consideration. An inaccessible store can mean a lost sale, while a consistently accessible experience can help build long-term customer loyalty.

Accessibility Starts With Store Design

Shainhouse said newer retail environments are generally improving, with architects, engineers and developers paying greater attention to accessible entrances, automatic doors, washrooms and signage. The challenge is that meeting technical requirements does not necessarily mean a customer will be able to comfortably use the finished store. Retail merchandising decisions made after construction can create an entirely new set of barriers, with racks positioned too closely together, promotional tables narrowing circulation paths, fixtures extending unexpectedly into a customer’s route or push-button door openers being blocked by signage or merchandise.

“It comes down a hundred per cent to store design,” Shainhouse said.

She recalled visiting a smaller Indigo location at First Canadian Place several years ago and finding that she could not reach a section of the store with her walker because of the way the space was laid out. When she raised the issue, she said a manager suggested she take another route around the store. Rather than doing so, Shainhouse left.

To Shainhouse, the solution starts before fixtures are installed and merchandise is placed. Retailers developing or renovating stores should bring accessibility expertise into the design process early, allowing plans to be reviewed alongside the work of architects, engineers, store planners and merchandising teams.

“You need enough space for somebody in a wheelchair, and even more for an electric wheelchair, to comfortably get around,” she said. “You look at the space and make sure everybody can move through it safely.”

Ontario’s accessibility framework supports that broader focus. Requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act cover areas including customer service, information and communications, employment and aspects of public-space design. Shainhouse argues that regulatory compliance should be regarded as a starting point rather than the objective.

Designing for More Than One Type of Customer

One of the misconceptions surrounding accessibility, Shainhouse said, is that retailers sometimes picture a particular type of disabled customer, often somebody using a wheelchair, when assessing whether a space works. The actual customer base is considerably broader: someone may use a walker or cane, have limited vision or hearing, live with a neurological or sensory disability, or be recovering temporarily from an injury.

Many of the same design improvements can make stores easier to use for older customers, parents pushing strollers or shoppers carrying bags and packages. A small change in floor level can become a trip hazard, poor signage can make an elevator difficult to locate, and a service counter designed exclusively at standing height can create an awkward interaction for a customer using a wheelchair. Store fixtures that appear harmless to one shopper can become obstacles or hazards to another.

“You’re not only making it accessible for people with disabilities,” Shainhouse said. “You’re making it accessible for an older person walking with a cane or somebody pushing a stroller.”

That broader perspective is increasingly reflected in how retailers think about sensory environments. Accessibility is moving beyond traditional discussions about ramps, doors and washrooms to include lighting, sound and other elements that can make shopping difficult for people with sensory sensitivities or some forms of neurodiversity.

Sephora announced a global rollout of its Quiet Hours initiative in 2026 following an earlier pilot, creating designated periods when elements of the store environment are adjusted to provide a calmer shopping experience. In Canada, participating stores offer Quiet Hours during designated periods, with reduced sensory distractions intended to make the environment more comfortable for shoppers who benefit from them.

Shainhouse sees initiatives of this kind as encouraging, but said retailers need to consider the entire customer journey rather than treating accessibility as an individual program. She recalled encountering a Sephora store where a large promotional sign had been positioned in front of the button used to activate an accessible door. When Shainhouse raised the issue with the manager, the obstruction was moved. For her, the example shows how an otherwise thoughtful accessibility strategy can be undermined by something as ordinary as where a sign is placed, and why accessibility has to become part of day-to-day retail operations.

Staff Can Determine Whether a Store Is Truly Accessible

Physical design is only part of the equation. Shainhouse said one of the biggest opportunities for retailers lies in educating frontline employees about how to interact comfortably and respectfully with customers with disabilities. She has encountered sales associates who appear reluctant to approach her when she enters a store with her walker, something she believes can be particularly pronounced in commission-based environments where an employee may assume a customer requiring additional assistance will take more time.

There are also basic practices that employees may never have been taught. A wheelchair, for example, should not be moved or touched without its user’s permission.

“Never touch somebody’s wheelchair,” Shainhouse said. “That is part of them.”

When a customer enters with a white cane, she said, a sales associate does not need to make assumptions about how much the person can see or immediately take control of the interaction. An employee can simply introduce themselves and ask whether assistance would be helpful.

“You can simply say, ‘I’m happy to help if you’d like my assistance,’” Shainhouse said.

That assistance could mean explaining where a department is located, guiding someone toward an elevator or helping locate a particular product or size. Just as importantly, the customer should be able to decline the offer and shop independently. Ontario’s accessible customer-service framework includes requirements around training employees on interacting and communicating with people with different types of disabilities.

For Shainhouse, a retailer can invest significantly in an accessible physical environment and still deliver a poor experience if employees do not understand how to serve the customers those features are intended to support.

The Digital Store Matters Too

The same principle increasingly extends online, where a retailer’s website may be the first store environment a customer encounters. Shainhouse said retailers need to consider whether people using assistive technologies can navigate their websites, understand content and complete purchases. Elements such as alternative text for images, readable type, logical navigation and properly structured content can determine whether an ecommerce site is usable.

Ontario’s accessibility requirements apply broadly to businesses and non-profits with employees in the province, with specific obligations varying according to organization size. Businesses and non-profits with 20 or more employees must file accessibility compliance reports every three years. Businesses and non-profits with 50 or more employees, along with designated public-sector organizations, are required to make applicable public websites and web content conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Level AA, subject to specified exceptions.

The World Wide Web Consortium has since developed WCAG 2.2, a newer version of the international accessibility guidelines. Ontario’s current AODA website requirement continues to reference WCAG 2.0 Level AA.

For Shainhouse, the business question goes beyond which version of a standard a retailer is legally required to follow. If customers cannot independently use a website, the retailer has created another barrier to making a sale. Making the front door accessible accomplishes relatively little for a customer who cannot use the retailer’s website in the first place.

The distinction between physical and digital accessibility is also becoming less clear as the two channels become more closely connected. A customer might discover an item online, check inventory, visit a physical store, join a loyalty program and later place an ecommerce order. Statistics Canada found that 9 per cent of people with disabilities experienced barriers while banking or shopping online in 2022.

The Budget Question

Shainhouse readily acknowledges that making retail environments accessible requires investment. Existing stores can be more difficult to modify than new ones, while websites, training programs and physical environments all require resources. Her argument is that accessibility should have a place in the budget from the beginning rather than being addressed only after a customer complains or a problem becomes impossible to ignore.

“You can talk about it all you want, but at some point you have to bring somebody in to help you do it,” Shainhouse said. “There has to be money set aside.”

An accessibility consultant can review floor plans, work with a design team and identify potential barriers before they are built into a store. Initial training can establish expectations for employees and management, while refresher education can keep accessibility from disappearing as staffing and operations change.

“You make that initial investment, educate your board and management, and continue the training with your sales staff,” Shainhouse said. “You have to keep accessibility at the forefront.”

Shainhouse believes accessibility can still lose out when companies allocate capital because it may not receive the same attention as other competing priorities. For retailers, focusing solely on the upfront cost can overlook what happens when barriers remain.

A customer who cannot get through an aisle, reach a counter, use a fitting room or complete an online transaction is unlikely to appear as an “accessibility loss” on a sales report. That customer may simply leave, as Shainhouse did after finding the accessible fitting room being used for storage.

A Career Rooted in Fashion and Inclusion

Shainhouse’s perspective is informed by lived experience and a long connection to Canada’s apparel industry. She grew up in a manufacturing family and later founded Allistyle, an early Canadian size-inclusive fashion brand. The idea for the company emerged during an intensely personal period involving her daughter, Alli, who was undergoing cancer treatment and had gained significant weight from steroids.

During a trip to Yorkdale Shopping Centre to find jeans, Shainhouse recalled her daughter becoming upset after being directed toward a plus-size store. Her daughter felt that her changed body had suddenly determined where she was permitted to shop.

“She said, ‘They told me that I’m fat, and I have to go into the fat store,’” Shainhouse recalled. Her daughter refused to shop there, despite needing jeans.

Shainhouse remembers responding almost spontaneously: “You know what, Alli? We’re going to start a clothing brand.”

Alli did not recover, but Shainhouse went on to develop the company around many of the ideas the two had discussed. The experience reinforced her belief that people should not be unnecessarily separated or made to feel that a retail environment was intended for somebody else, a philosophy she has carried into her current accessibility work.

That perspective becomes increasingly relevant as Canada’s population ages and retailers serve customers whose needs may change throughout their lives. Statistics Canada reported that the disability rate among Canadians aged 65 and older reached 40.4 per cent in 2022, compared with 24.1 per cent among those aged 25 to 64. Accessibility measures can also benefit somebody recovering from surgery, a shopper who has broken a leg or a parent navigating a store with children.

“You don’t know what somebody is dealing with,” Shainhouse said. “They could have broken a leg, had a fall or suddenly be in a wheelchair for six weeks.”

From Accommodation to Customer Experience

For retailers opening new locations, Shainhouse recommends making accessibility part of the initial planning process, including reviews of entrances, circulation, fitting rooms, service areas, signage and other customer touchpoints. Existing retailers can conduct similar reviews of their stores while also examining websites, ecommerce platforms and staff training.

The objective, she said, should be to think about all customers from the outset rather than designing for one assumed customer and subsequently finding ways to accommodate everybody else. That can involve capital investment, but it also comes down to seemingly minor operational decisions: whether merchandise blocks a pathway, whether an accessible fitting room remains available for its intended purpose, whether staff know how to offer assistance appropriately and whether a customer can find and use an accessible entrance without having to ask someone for help.

The goal should not be to create a separate or elaborate experience for customers with disabilities.

“We don’t need extra care,” Shainhouse said. “We’re not asking to be put on a pedestal.”

Instead, she wants retailers to create an environment where customers can enter the business, use it safely, find what they need and be treated with respect.

“My wish is that people with disabilities aren’t seen any differently,” Shainhouse said. “We’re all people.”

For retailers, perhaps the most successful accessible experience is ultimately the one a customer barely notices. They arrive, shop, make their purchase and return because the business was designed for them to be there.

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