We Keep Forgetting.
In 1885, a German psychologist named Hermann Ebbinghaus uncovered an uncomfortable truth about human behaviour. We forget — fast.
The Forgetting Curve
His research produced what is now known as the Forgetting Curve, a theory showing how memory retention drops sharply after learning unless knowledge is actively reinforced through repetition, recall, or real-world application.
Within a single day, people can forget 50–70% of newly learned information if it isn’t reinforced. Not because they don’t care. Not because they aren’t capable. But because forgetting is part of being human.
This insight matters profoundly when we talk about and often point out the lack of awareness around disability. Indeed, I’ve lost count how many times I’ve read the words, “I can’t believe in this day and age that isn’t common knowledge” in reference to another human beings apparent lack of awareness. It is common knowledge, it’s just information that isn’t instantly available to them.
Attending a training course isn’t the same as Being Ready
I’ve met countless people who deeply care about their disabled customers.
They’ve done the training.
They want to get it right.
They hate causing offense or excluding someone.
And yet, when the moment arrives — someone needs support, time is tight, the situation isn’t quite what they were shown in the course — confidence disappears and mistakes are made.
Not because people don’t care. Because they’re trying to remember something they learned months ago, in a completely different setting.
That’s the forgetting curve at work.
Accessibility and inclusion Fails Quietly
Most accessibility failures don’t come from bad intent. They come from everyday reality.
- Staff move on, and knowledge leaves with them.
- Disabled visitors may not be frequent (or evident), so skills aren’t reinforced.
- Disability is often misunderstood or oversimplified.
- Over 75% of disabled people have hidden disabilities.
- Many people choose not to explain their needs.
So we end up with a strange situation an expectation of knowledge without there being a realistic route to gaining and retaining it.
We expect staff to instantly recognise needs that aren’t visible, remember training they did once, and act confidently under pressure — all without making the person in front of them feel awkward or “different”.
That’s a big ask.
The Problem Isn’t People — It’s the System
We’ve designed accessibility around the idea that:
“If we train people once, they’ll remember when it matters.”
But humans don’t work like that.
The research is clear. What does work is:
- Small reminders, not big lectures
- Repetition over time
- Support in the moment.
- Context
- Real world engagement.
In other words: don’t rely on perfect memory. Build support into real life through effective processes.
This Is Where WelcoMe Comes In
Back in the day, when I was a Mobility Instructor, I worked out that if I ran ahead of my clients and spoke to staff members immediately before an interaction, they got the interaction right.
WelcoMe is purely the digitisation of that interaction one which is importantly led and initiated by the disabled visitor.
It doesn’t replace training — it enhances it.
It doesn’t tell people off — it empowers them.
It doesn’t assume bad intent — it supports and rewards good.
It helps immediately before and in the moment — when someone arrives, when support is needed, when uncertainty would otherwise creep in.
It gives staff confidence.
It gives disabled people control without having to explain themselves.
And it takes the pressure off both sides.
That’s how you interrupt the forgetting curve — not in a classroom, but in the moment at the door.
Designing for Real Humans
If we want inclusion to stick, we have to design for how people actually behave — not how we wish they did.
That means accepting that forgetting is normal and that training can and needs to be more sticky… to stick. And that good systems support people when it matters, not months earlier.
WelcoMe exists because forgetting is easy.
Exclusion doesn’t have to be.
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