Countdown to the Physical Rights of Access and Education

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Countdown to the Physical Rights of Access and
Education

• Presented by
• Paul Brown
• Director, Scottish Disability Team
• p.d.brown_at_dundee.ac.uk
• www.sdt.ac.uk
• and
• Tom Lister Associates
• People Friendly Design
• tom.lister_at_peoplefriendly.co.uk
• www.peoplefriendly.co.uk

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Countdown to the Physical Rights of Access and
Education

• Aims
• To assist participants to devise a framework
  within which to prioritise activities and
  implement actions in the lead-up to September
  2005.
• To provide participants with a brief recap on the
  DDA Part IV, and to more fully discuss the
  Building Regulations, BSE8 300 and good practice
  in relation to these.
• To provide participants with resources to utilise
  in their planning and activities during the
  coming year.

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Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Part IV

• Institutions have a duty not to discriminate
  against a disabled person for a reason related to
  his/her disability and without justification
• Discrimination can occur through
• - Less favourable treatment
• - Failure to make reasonable adjustment
• Anticipatory reasonable adjustments

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Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Part IV

• What activities and facilities does the Act
  apply to?
• The Act covers all aspects of the physical
  environment, including, for example
• Access to buildings, such as level or ramped
  entry
• Emergency evacuation arrangements, such as
  flashing light fire alarms or vibrating pagers
  for deaf people, fire refuges or alternative
  escapes routes for people with mobility
  impairments
• The accessibility of external paths and
  landscaping

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Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Part IV

• What activities and facilities does the
• Act apply to? contd
• Circulation within buildings, including their
  interior layout
• Effective lighting and signage and colour or tone
  contrast on doors etc to aid orientation
• Acoustics appropriate for hearing aid users and
  (working) loop systems in lecture theatres or
  reception desks
• Desk, laboratory benches, work surfaces and
  reception desks at varying or flexible heights

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Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Part IV

• What activities and facilities does the
• Act apply to? contd
• Appropriate seating
• Access to services, such as catering facilities,
  or payphones in a corridor
• Accessible toilets
• Convenient and reserved parking spaces for those
  who need them

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Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Part IV

• What is a reasonable adjustment?
• Any action that helps to alleviate a substantial
  disadvantage. It might include
• Changing standard procedures
• Adapting the curriculum, electronic or other
  materials
• Providing additional services (sign language,
  interpreters or materials in Braille)
• Training staff to work with disabled people and
  to provide appropriate adjustments
• Altering the physical environment

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Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Part IV

• Reasonable adjustments need to be
• Agreed
• Communicated
• Resourced
• Developed and reviewed
• Anticipated
• Publicised
• Defended!!!

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Programme

• Legislation
• Good Practice
• Planning to Improve Access
• Case study

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From October 1999
DDA Part III

• Duty to make reasonable adjustments
• auxiliary aid or service
• change policy procedure or practice
• alternative provision

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From October 2004

• Duty to
• remove the feature
• alter it so it no longer presents a barrier
• provide a reasonable means of avoiding the
  physical feature
• provide a reasonable alternative provision.

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DDA Part IV

• 2002 - Main section of the legislation
• 2003 - Auxiliary aids and services
• September 2005 - Physical features

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Reasonable?

• Finance
• Time-scale
• Legislation
• Listed status

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Landlords Duties
Currently

• Cannot discriminate unreasonably on the grounds
  of a persons disability.
• No requirement to make physical changes

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Draft Disability Discrimination Bill
This Bill will extend a Landlords obligations
under the DDA to include a duty to make
reasonable adjustments to policies, practices and
procedures and provide auxiliary aids and
services, where reasonable, to enable a disabled
person to rent a property and facilitate a
disabled tenants enjoyment of the premises. But
no obligation to make physical changes.
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Building Regulations

• 10 year DDA exemption if a feature is compliant
  with the Regulations (England Wales)

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Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations

• Access and Facilities for disabled people
• Approach, car parking and entrance
• Access and circulation within buildings
• Use of buildings
• Toilet facilities
• Spectator seating
• Access to dwellings

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Regulations v Good Practice

• Regulations omit many essential guidelines
• pedestrian environment
• external approach features, street furniture
• signage
• features - colour and contrast, lighting,
  acoustic quality
• auxiliary aids, e.g. communication
• physical bias rather than sensory

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Disability
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• Ironmongery vision panels manifestations
  closers holdbacks automatic openers mats
  power assisted openers security locks keypads
  access controls heights and colour contrast
  windows handles. Glare blinds curtains soft
  furnishings clocks. Information systems
  switches sockets fixing heights reaching
  distances lecterns and controls adjustments
  screens location visibility sound assistive
  systems

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• Spaces for signers lip speakers video
  displays notice boards lighting reflection
  shadows emergency lighting. Daylight heating
  ventilation air conditioning temperature
  control background noise vibration décor
  materials and flooring textures colour contrast
  and acoustic properties furniture design
  handles seat design

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• Emergency alarms (visual and audible) video and
  text phones public phones storage archives
  filing shop layout price display restaurant
  food/menu display vending machines toilets and
  showers water temperature, alarm location flush
  handles paper towel sanitary vending/disposal
  room numbering visitors book complaints
  comments

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• Art labelling tactile displays
  plants/landscaping textures/tactile warnings
  bollards exterior lighting crossings bus
  stops transport systems route display
  assistance dog provision loan wheelchairs
  (powered) charging points signage Braille
  refuge signs exit routes emergency egress
  security searches metal detectors. Guided
  tours building information in accessible
  formats management and maintenance.

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All links important

• information/motivation
• transport
• car parking
• pedestrian environment
• route to building
• premises
• people - staff

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Definition of a Physical Feature

• Building Regulations taken as the benchmark of
  accessibility
• However, aspects out with the scope of the
  Regulations open to interpretation e.g. signage
• Public spaces do not fit into the Building
  Regulation definition.
• Follow Good Practice to Comply

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Good Practice
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BS 8300 2001

• Code of practice for the design of the approach
  to buildings and the convenience their use by
  people with disabilities

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Research
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• Location of parking bay
• Identification of parking bays
• Size of bays
• Amount of parking provision
• Security and management

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Pedestrian Navigation

• Smooth surfaces
• Define the route

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Drainage Gratings
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Navigation - level changes
Corduroy tactile warning surface - refer to
DETRs Guidance on the use of Tactile Paving
Surfaces.
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Entrances

• In prominent location
• Identifiable
• Less effort - more ease of use

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Highlight Glass
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Receptions

• Treatment of glazing
• lighting
• reflections

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Vertical Circulation - Stairs

• Where do the steps start and end?
• Contrasting nosings and risers

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Colour and Contrast

• Colour needs to be used in conjunction with
  lighting
• Colour can help define facilities

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• Change in floor finish/colour to delineate route
• Soft furnishings absorbs background sound

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Lighting and Contrast

• Light source and levels
• Transitions of light
• The eye

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Sound

• Reverberation and background noise
• Induction loops
• Infra-red systems
• Compatibility
• Leakage
• Radio

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Toilets
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Means of Escape

• Alarms
• Egress Management
• Exit Routes
• Wayfinding
• Refuges
• Aids intercoms
• Evac-chairs

FIRE EXIT
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Planning to Improve Access
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Preparation

• Service providers are more likely to be able to
  meet their duty to make reasonable adjustments if
  they
• audit physical and non physical barriers
• make adjustments
• provide staff training relevant to adjustments

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...(Preparation continued)

• draw adjustments to attention of disabled people
• let disabled people know how to request
  assistance
• regularly review the effectiveness of adjustments
  act on findings of review

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Anticipatory Duty

• Service providers must be proactive in
  considering how their services create problems
  for disabled people and consider reasonable
  remedial action.

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Continuing Duty

• Monitor and review in the light of experience.
• Evolving Duty
• Not to be considered once and then forgotten.
  Technological developments may provide new or
  better solutions to the problems of inaccessible
  services.

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Existing Environments

• Develop an access improvement strategy
• ? Access Audit
• action plan for improvements
• prioritising
• Work carried out during
• Planned Maintenance
• Rolling Access Programme

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New Environments

• Think Early

• Access an integral part of the design concept
• involve disabled people
• access appraisals of plans regular part of
  process
• Produce an Access Statement

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Access Statements

• A living document which acts as the agenda for a
  dialogue between all stakeholders
• In the briefing period the document sets out
  strategic objects for the building/alteration
• As the design develops the document can be more
  specific
• Considers management issues as well as the
  physical environment

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Access Statements

• The statement can also be used to justify
  deviations from standards
• Buy-in from all stakeholders
• User focus
• Puts the onus on designers to justify how their
  building/alteration will work in practice
• The final version of the document should form
  part of the building operational documentation

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Estates Department
Disabled People
An Inclusive Anywhere University
Services Facilities
Faculties
Residences
Disabled Students Coordinator