Guide Dogs Launches ‘Open Doors’ Campaign and Smartphone App Around Access Refusals

Access refusals is something that many Guide Dog Owners face in their day to day life, some times more often than not, whether that might be when visiting restaurants, pubs, cafes, shops or many other businesses and service providers.

Well Guide Dogs have just launched their new ‘Open Doors’ Campaign and smartphone App to support Guide Dog Owners, educate businesses and service providers and seek to strengthen the law around access refusals too. 

RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey was joined by Guide Dogs Lead Regional Policy and Campaigns Manager, Clive Wood to find out more about the ‘Open Doors’ campaign and smartphone app.

Clive began by telling Toby how the new campaign and smartphone app came from research they have done around access refusals and also request from Guide Dog Owners, how the app will be used to log and gain a better understanding around access refusals as well as helping to strengthen and tighten the law for Guide Dog Owners.

Clive also talked about how Guide Dogs will be supporting Owners around the access refusals that they log through the ‘Open Doors’ app and how Guide Dogs will be following up those refusals as well as pointing out that Guide Dog Owners can as always contact Guide Dogs in the normal ways through their guideline number and email address to report any access refusals too. 

Toby also asked Clive about what advice Guide Dogs might give to Owners around videoing or audio recording access refusals and in a way naming and shaming business owners and service providers through social media. Clive mentioned that it is better to complain first before naming and shaming on social media and also stated that Guide Dogs is there to advise owners around videoing access refusals.

If you would like to support and find out more about the Guide Dogs ‘Open Doors’ campaign along with details on how to download the smartphone app then do visit thee following page of the Guide Dogs website -

(Image shows RNIB logo. 'RNIB' written in black capital letters over a white background and underlined with a bold pink line, with the words 'See differently' underneath)