A disabled woman has praised a wedding dress shop in Portishead, Bristol for featuring a mannequin in a wheelchair in its shop window.
Beth Wilson, who has used a wheelchair for the past five years, spotted the window display at The White Collection Bridal Boutique while out shopping and shared a photo on Twitter which has since gone viral. Social media users and news outlets across the world have praised the wedding dress shop for its inclusive display which is not often seen on the high street.
While there have been many moves in recent years to make society more inclusive for disabled people and wheelchair users, there is still a long way to go but shops such as The White Collection Bridal Boutique are showing how simple it is to do.
Beth said; “I think most disabled people experience inaccessibility often when they go out – I know I do. Pretty much every time I go anywhere. The world isn’t designed for us.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen a wheelchair in a shop window like this (mobility shops not included) and it was so surprising to see and made me feel represented.”
According to disability charity Scope, there are approximately 13.9 million people in the UK who are disabled. Unfortunately many may feel they are ignored by many brands and the media as they don’t often see themselves represented.
Laura Allen co-owns The White Collection Bridal Boutique with her sister Sarah Parker. They said the decision to include a wheelchair in their window display was a simple one – “we didn’t really think too much about it.”
“We are delighted that our window display is getting such positive feedback.”
To date, Beth’s tweet has had more than 8,100 retweets and 36,000 likes and has been picked up by media outlets across the world.
It’s fantastic to see the reaction this has had and we are delighted to see The White Collection Bridal Boutique are leading the way in providing an inclusive experience for wheelchair users and disabled people. We hope to see this becoming the norm rather than the exception in the not too distant future.