Boots forced into u-turn as disability campaigners blast 'less abled' car parking sign
A wheelchair user said pharmacy chain Boots "should know better" after erecting a sign labelling parking spaces for "less abled" customers.
The nationwide company has been forced to issue an apology - and hastily change the sign - following a public backlash on social media.
The signage, beneath the symbol of a person in a wheelchair, was installed in the car park of the store at Riverside in Norwich.
Kezza Reece, a full-time wheelchair user with ME and complex PTSD, first spotted it two weeks ago but said she needed time for her "all-consuming rage" to subside before she was able to flag it up.
The 46-year-old, from Norwich, had been driven to the store on the outskirts of Norwich to buy some hair dye.
"I looked up and there was this massive sign telling me I was less able," she said.
"I honestly felt sucker-punched.
"The rage was all-consuming. To be called less than by Boots, of all businesses - they're a medical and health provider.
"It makes it less forgivable. They should know better."
Mrs Reece, who has two children, who said she often used the Riverside Boots store because it was "brilliantly accessible", at first thought the sign was a one-off.
But after turning to social media sites LinkedIn and Twitter, she has since been sent a Google Streetview screengrab of a similar sign at another store.
Mrs Reece, who was diagnosed with autism last year and ADHD two years ago, said: "This is not one person in a rush. This is a decision they have made at a national level to rebrand their parking signs to say I am less able than anybody else."
The sign at the Norwich store was changed less than 24 hours after the issue was flagged up on Twitter.
Life coach Mrs Reece said she was pleased with the swift response but wanted reassurance that all similar signs would also be changed.
A spokesperson for Boots said the company was urgently checking whether the wording had been used elsewhere in the country and would be replacing them as a matter of urgency.
"Language matters," said Mrs Reece, who has urged Boots to employ a disabled disability consultant to inform future decisions. "Disability advocates have fought for decades to be heard.
"They [Boots] are uncomfortable with the word disabled. Disabled people are not uncomfortable with the word disabled.
"Just use the word disabled. It's our community, we're the disabled ones. Why can't you use the word we have chosen?"
Mrs Reece's initial tweets sparked an angry reaction online.
One person hit out at the firm, reminding Boots that "disabled is not a dirty word", while another added: "Accessible Parking or Disabled would do fine. I’m not less abled, I’m DISABLED *by* inaccessibility."
The chain has since apologised and said the signage had been changed to read "Accessible parking bay".
On Twitter, Boots wrote: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We completely accept and understand that this wording is not appropriate and can confirm that we are working to change this signage as a matter of priority.
"We sincerely apologise for any offence caused; Boots has always aimed to be inclusive to all and we will always champion this."
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