 |
 |
I have been involved in access as a subject for some considerable time and the proof of the pudding is in the fact that legislation has become necessary for force designers, builders, developers and the rest to remove barriers from the built environment. Having set that stall out, I am equally convinced it is not deliberate, except in a few rare cases, just plain ignorance, or put another way, lack of awareness. When Part "M" of the Building Regulations were extended to dwellings there was an exchange of correspondence in the papers bemoaning the demise of the front doorstep. This was seen as a major blow to being British. I read a letter from a renowned architect who actually said that the only way to keep water out of a house was to have a front doorstep. If that is the level of intelligence what chance do we have. Awareness has to be part of the training of any skills involved in the built environment. Awareness of the need for level access as well as all the features that go toward making things easier for people with visual impairment, hearing as well as mobility difficulty. There is a huge amount of disability awareness training available now, and every architect should have to spend a week in a wheelchair as part of their training. I well remember sitting outside M&S in our High Street with a collecting tin, the number of people who walked past the manual doors to get to the automatic ones was proof enough to me that making things easier for people with disabilities makes things easier for everyone. Recently I visited the factory where the 140 mph tilting trains for the West Coast Main line are being built. I could not use the toilets, any more proof needed? ________________End of message______________________ Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List are now located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.