Accessibility is necessary to some, but useful to all. Have you ever helped a parent carry strollers up or down a flight of stairs? Maybe held a door open for someone who would have had difficulties doing it themselves? Then you have encountered a situation where a space has not been accessible enough for everyone to use. If a company wants to serve all, they must be available to all. However, although we all surely agree that providing equal opportunities is important, somehow, accessibility is often overlooked as a monetizable business opportunity. With Riesa’s trailblazing Accessibility Index, companies and organisations can make accessibility a competitive advantage and a credible part of their everyday operations and standards – they can turn a real pain into real profit.

Accessibility makes life easier for us all

A place is accessible when it is functioning, logical, safe, and pleasant, and every space
in it is easy to enter, regardless of how you move. A single accessibility problem can be
easy to spot, but perceiving and understanding the total level of accessibility is much
harder, making large-scale improvements difficult.

Accessibility has a great impact on all of us, and yet the people at Riesa noticed there
were not that many experts or practical tools to promote it. The team knew they would
not be content just waiting for someone to do something about it – so they decided to
become the change they wanted to see and came up with a solution themselves.
“Our Accessibility Index enables the development of accessibility in a well-planned and
cost-efficient manner. It’s also an easy way to communicate the accessibility level of
your space”, Riesa’s CEO Mika Borg explains.

What drives the team forward is their personal experience with accessibility challenges,
some of them being in a wheelchair themselves, some of them having a person close to them require a higher level of accessibility. This gives the team a deeper understanding of how accessibility caters to a wider user base, from people with disabilities to seniors and families with small children. Transportation, cleaning, and facility maintenance also become easier when a space is wide enough, uncluttered, and has no thresholds, stairs or steep slopes.

First of its kind – Riesa’s innovative solution changes the way we view
accessibility

There has previously been no clear metric for assessing accessibility. With Riesa’s
Accessibility Index, discussions are finally based on facts and concrete data, instead of
just gut feelings. It makes accessibility more measurable, tangible, and easy to
communicate. The business potential for Riesa’s clients is huge: Companies and
organisations of all sizes can use the Accessibility Index to improve customer
experience, attract new people, increase the occupancy rate of facilities, reduce the
turnover of office spaces, and strengthen their brand as responsible operators. In other words, it helps companies harness the full monetary value of accessibility – something that is rarely talked about or even understood.

The Accessibility Index is easy and straightforward to use. The process begins with
setting clear objectives and receiving detailed guidance on how to apply the user-friendly index in practice. The index provides a clear numerical score from 0 to 100 that reflects the current state of accessibility in the assessed space. This score can be used for external communication and serves as a concrete foundation for ongoing development. Based on the process, key areas for improvement are identified, and a
realistic, effective improvement plan can be created to support continuous
accessibility development. This helps companies and organisations make accessibility an integral part of both their current and future operations, turning something often overlooked into a meaningful point of positive attention.

Gaining access to success by solving every problem along the way

Riesa’s Accessibility Index is already helping companies and organisations improve
their accessibility. Metropolia University of Applied Sciences uses it to support the
development of its campuses and to communicate its level of accessibility. The Port
of Helsinki has also adopted the Accessibility Index for all its passenger terminals in the
city centre. Despite these important and amazing collaborations, Riesa has had its
struggles along the way.

“Creating a service specifically focused on improving physical accessibility has not
been easy. Our first problems to solve were surprisingly elementary, like increasing
awareness of accessibility issues and articulating the actual value of this new service”,
Borg tells when asked about surprises along the way. “However, facing these
challenges has also helped us refine our business model and the core of our services,
and we have developed new ways to better support our customers!”

Borg believes their innovative solution to a very real problem opens the door for Riesa to become an industry leader and change the way accessibility is developed and
measured, in Finland and around the world. Riesa is constantly starting new
discussions with new operators, and the team believes their network will expand
significantly in the future.

“Our aim is for the Accessibility Index to become a key metric in the real estate
industry, making it an essential part of developing cities, facilities, and spaces”, Borg
declares proudly. It is a big dream, but the foundation for success has already been laid – even the most ambitious goals become achievable when the path to reaching them is made accessible.

Riesa in a nutshell

Established: In 2019 in Helsinki, Finland.
Solution: Accessibility Index that evaluates the accessibility of properties and spaces
on a scale from 0 to 100.
Mission: Making the world accessible to all.
Fun fact: The founding members met and got to know each other through powerchair
hockey.

Learn more:
riesa.io
Riesa’s LinkedIn
Riesa’s introductory video