Accessible & Inclusive Tourism
ONBOARD
The team at Seabirds-and-Seals Noss Boat Tours believe that having improved accessibility appeals to a wide range of visitors and we want to make your tour a holiday highlight by making it accessible and enjoyable throughout. By listening to our customers and having more awareness about the inclusive tourism market, we have worked hard and implemented changes to make our tours open and enjoyable for all. We have detailed below what we offer and are always open to new suggestions. Please feel free to contact us prior to booking our tour and we will happily assist you.
Wheelchair Accessibility
We have adapted our catamaran ‘Seabird’ to make it wheelchair accessible onto the boat. We have a steel platform at the stern of the boat and if the boat is at even level to the pontoon – wheelchairs can transfer very easily and our dedicated crew are available to assist. We also have a steel ramp at the back platform that we can lower onto the pier – this system is great if there’s a slight slope at our pick up point. Unfortunately our on-board toilet and heated cabin are only accessible to ambulatory wheelchair users. The doors to both areas are not wide enough to accommodate someone in a wheelchair all of the time. Please check out our published accessibility guide for further information.
If you have a mobility scooter we do need you to contact us prior to booking as we need to know the weight of the scooter.
Mobility Aids
We work in collaboration with ‘Ability Shetland’ – if you require access to a wheelchair or any other mobility aid to allow you to join our tour, please just let us know and we will source and deliver to your accommodation prior to your tour commencing.
Storage Facilities
We have a secure storage are inside the cabin to allow you to store your belongings and for families bringing a pushchair, we have room to store. If you are arriving by bicycle, there is spaces on the pontoon where we depart from for you to leave your bicycle behind as long as you use a bicycle lock. Depending on the size of bike we may be able to store it onboard in a side locker, but only up to 2 bikes at a time. Please contact us prior to booking to discuss.
Hearing Enhancements
We have a PA system which allows you to hear everything being said wherever you are located on the boat. We hand out our individual headsets during our safety briefing, which means you never miss a thing being said by our dedicated guides. We have received very good feedback about the headsets and particularly useful when the boat is moving fast and on occasions the wind howling.
Braille
We have published seabird/cetacean identification charts which are also available in Braille format.
Dietary Requirements
We provide refreshments on all our tours and can cater for dietary requirements – we have this noted within ‘our tours’ section of the website and printed materials. Please do let us know when booking if you have any dietary requirements. If booking online there is a section that says ‘Notes (Special Requirements)’ – just pop your requirements in there. If you do not wish to book online, just contact us directly and let us know of any dietary or special requirements.
Facilities For Assistance Dogs
Assistance dogs are welcome on all our tours – just add this to the ‘Notes (Special Requirements)’ section if booking online or contact us directly.
Family Friendly Activities
Our tours are very family friendly with onboard activities to keep our younger sailors onboard and plenty of room on our spacious viewing platform if you wish to bring a pushchair. There is also room in our indoor cabin to stow away pushchairs and can be accessed at any time during the tour.
Customer Care
Marie who joins every tour as our dedicated guide, is always on hand to ensure you have a good time all of the time and there to answer any questions you may have or offer assistance. Marie has worked previously as a Learning Support Worker and Social Care Worker, sometimes acting as Duty Senior. She has worked in various settings for a diverse range of clients, which she continues to do in the Winter months when not operating tours. She has various qualifications, including disability inclusion in Hospitality, Travel & Tourism.
We have our published Accessibility Guide Tool created via Visit Scotland – you can view this by clicking here.
We are happy to answer any questions and discuss any requirements prior to booking – please contact us on: +44 (0)7595 540224 which is also available via WhatsApp or email us
Digital Accessibility Statement
We are committed to making the information and resources on our website accessible to all visitors.
When you visit the website, we have used our dark blue on a white background.
You can zoom in on your browser and the website, its images and its words will remain in place without spilling with the visitor needing to scroll side to side.
The website also features a translating tool that can be found in the bottom right to help translate the pages into another language.
Headings are clear for easy navigation with internal pages laid out in an easy to read, and an easy to understand manner.
Browser plugins or extensions will allow for the content on our page to be read, with alt titles in place of our images.
The website is coded and developed to the highest of standards, fully compliant with HTML5, CSS and Java.
Website Privacy Policy
we use a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to our site and what areas they are most interested in. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make, or allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. You can find more information on how cookies are used on this website in the Cookies Policy below.
In the unlikely event we do want to start collecting personally identifiable information through our website, we will ensure you know we are doing it and what we intend to do with it.
Links to Other Web Sites
This privacy notice does not cover the links within this site linking to other websites, and if you have questions about how a site uses your information, you’ll need to check that site’s privacy statement.
Access to Your Personal Information
You are entitled to access the personal information that we hold. Email us for any queries.
Changes to this Privacy Notice
We regularly review our privacy notice to ensure it is accurate. This privacy notice was last updated on 18th January 2022.
What is a cookie?
Like most websites, we use cookies to collect information. Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your personal computer, mobile or other device when you visit a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognises that cookie. Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user’s device.
How long are cookies stored for?
Persistent cookies – these cookies remain on a user’s device for the period of time specified in the cookie. They are activated each time that the user visits the website that created that particular cookie.
Session cookies – these cookies allow website operators to link the actions of a user during a browser session. A browser session starts when a user opens the browser window and finishes when they close the browser window. Session cookies are created temporarily. Once you close the browser, all session cookies are deleted.
Cookies do lots of different jobs, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, and generally improve the user experience.
Can I disable cookies?
If you want to disable cookies you need to change your website browser settings to reject cookies. How you can do this will depend on the browser you use.
Depending on which cookies you disable, the website may not operate properly if cookies are switched off.
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