44 Access and inclusion Neil Smith and David Dropkin Senior Access Consultant, Buro Happold Ltd, London KEY POINTS: Consider the needs of all disabled people not just wheelchair users, who form a small percentage of such a diverse group of people. At some times in their lives, people may require the same provision that is made for disabled people; flexibility is all important
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Contents 1 Inclusive design 2 People 3 Mobility equipment 4 Reach ranges 5 Walking distances 6 Toilets
1 INCLUSIVE DESIGN 1.01 Design principles Good design reflects the diverse nature of people and does not impose barriers of any kind. Designing inclusively guarantees accessibility to all, including disabled people, older people and families with small children. ‘The Principles of Inclusive Design’ (CABE) encourage high quality, inclusive design in the built environment. Incorporating these principles ensure projects are: – everyone uses safely, easily and with dignity • Inclusive Responsive • and want – takes into account of what people say they need – allows different people to use in different ways • Flexible – everyone uses without too much effort or • Convenient separation – for all, regardless of age, gender, mobility, • Accommodating ethnicity or circumstances – no disabling barriers that might exclude some • Welcoming people – recognising that one solution may not work for all • Realistic and offering additional solutions as required 1.02 Design process In order to deliver inclusive environments, the principles of inclusive design must be integrated into the design process from first principles. Making environments easy to use for everyone requires consideration other than just physical factors. These include signage/way-finding, lighting, visual contrast, controls and door furniture, and materials. Inclusive design relates as much to the design process as to the final product, bonding user-experience with professional expertise and management practice. The process extends from inception, through the planning process, detailed design, construction to occupation, management and operation. The goal of creating aesthetic and functional environments that can be used equally by everyone, irrespective of age, gender, faith or disability, requires a creative and inclusive design process working towards accommodating a diverse range of users. Following the minimum provisions of the building regulations or best practice guidance alone will not deliver inclusive projects. For this, the involvement of design team, client and community are required.
2 PEOPLE 2.01 Disabled people The UK’s Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) defines a person as having a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. It is estimated that approximately 20% of the UK population (over 10 million people) may have rights under the DDA. While the spatial needs of wheelchair users and people with mobility impairments are important in terms of designing the physical environment, it is also necessary to understand the barriers experienced by people with learning difficulties and mental illness, visual impairments and hearing impairments as well as conditions such as HIV, cancer, heart disease or diabetes.
2.02 In general, designing to provide access, whether physical or intellectual, will yield results that benefit the community at large. Many aspects of an inclusively designed environment will be helpful to all or most disabled people (and many others as well). In order to deliver the whole, it is useful to understand the diverse and complex nature of disability, recognising that degrees of disability vary greatly as do the combinative effect of multiple impairments.
2.03 Statistics Some key statistics relating to disability are: 70% of disabled people in the UK have reduced or limited • Some mobility. They represent 14% of the overall population users account for only 0.85% of the general • Wheelchair population 2 million people in the UK (approximately 4% of the UK • About population) define themselves as having a sight problem or
• • • • • •
seeing difficulty There are over 8 million deaf or hard of hearing people in the UK (14.5% of the population) there are 700,000 in the UK who are severely or profoundly deaf 14% of the UK population have difficulty on reaching, stretching or having reduced dexterity 5.6 million people have difficulty with physical coordination 3.9 million people in the UK have difficulty learning and understanding 700 000 people have difficulties in perceiving risk
2.04 Older people The number of older people in the population is increasing. Many of them have or will have an impairment of some kind. Over the next 30 years, while the overall population is expected to rise by less than 7%, the proportion of the population over 65 will increase by approximately 40%, doubling the number of people over 65. In addition, the proportion of the population over 80 is expected to treble. There is a correlation between the age and disability. Approximately 5 million people over the age of 65 have a longstanding illness and more than half the population over 75 has some kind of disability. Two-thirds of disabled people are over pension age. 44-1
44-2
Access and inclusion
Table I Dimensions for British people aged 65–80
Table II Statures (or equivalents) for Britons in various age groups
Men percentiles
Standing 1. Stature 2. Eye height 3. Shoulder height 4. Elbow height 5. Hand (knuckle) height 6. Reach upwards Sitting 7. Height above seat level 8. Eye height above seat level 9. Shoulder height above seat level 10. Length from elbow to fingertip 11. Elbow above seat level 12. Thigh clearance 13. Top of knees, height above floor 14. Popliteal height 15. Front of abdomen to front of knees 16. Buttock–popliteal length 17. Rear of buttocks to front of knees 19. Seat width Sitting and standing 20. Forward grip reach 21. Fingertip span 23. Shoulder width
Women percentiles
5th
50th
95th
5th
50th
95th
1575 1470 1280 975 670 1840
1685 1575 1380 895 730 1965
1790 1685 1480 975 795 2090
1475 1375 1190 740 645 1725
1570 1475 1280 810 705 1835
1670 1570 1375 875 760 1950
815 705 520
875 760 570
930 815 625
750 645 475
815 710 535
885 770 590
425
460
490
390
420
450
175 125 480
220 150 525
270 175 575
165 115 455
210 145 500
260 170 540
385 210
425 280
470 350
355 325
395 295
440 365
430 530
485 580
535 625
430 520
480 565
525 615
305
350
395
310
370
430
700 1605 400
755 1735 445
805 1860 485
640 1460 345
685 1570 385
735 1685 380
Percentiles
New-born infants Infants less than 6 months old Infants 6 months to 1 year old Infants 1 year to 18 months Infants 18 months to 2 years
5th
50th
95th
465 510 655 690 780
500 600 715 745 840
535 690 775 800 900
Boys/men percentiles
People also tend to shrink slightly with age. More significantly, the body tends to be less flexible in regard to adapting to dimensionally unfavourable situations. Older people tend to have more than one impairment. It is, therefore, more important that design allows for older people. Table I gives dimensions for people between the ages of 65 and 80. 2.05 Children and adolescents Statures (or equivalents) for various ages in Britain are given in Table II (Statures (or equivalents) for Britons in various age groups). Where facilities are to be used solely by small children, specific heights should be adjusted to meet their requirements There are approximately 3.3 million families in the UK with children under 5. Design in general should also consider the needs of children, for example, when providing family facilities or sinks at lower heights in toilets. It is also worth noting that approximately 7% of children in the UK are disabled (around 770 000). Disabled children and young people currently face multiple barriers, making it more difficult for them to achieve their potential, achieve the outcomes their peers expect and to succeed in education. Disabled parents and carers should be considered at all stages of the design process. 2.06 Large people Obesity also needs to be considered. The prevalence of obesity in children aged under 11 increased from 9.9% in 1995 to 13.7% in 2003. This trend is expected to continue. Since the 1980s, the prevalence of obesity in adults has trebled. Well over half of all adults in the UK are either overweight or obese, almost 24 million adults. Pregnant women, like large people, can be disadvantaged by the design of the environment. Long routes and stairs can be very tiring, narrow seats, doors and small toilet cubicles are other common barriers. In certain buildings such as football stadia, deliberately narrow doorways are used to ensure control over entry. In these cases, and also where turnstiles are used, additional provision for large people should be made.
Children, 2 years old Children, 3 years old Children, 4 years old Children, 5 years old Children, 6 years old Children, 7 years old Children, 8 years old Children, 9 years old Children, 10 years old Children, 11 years old Children, 12 years old Children, 13 years old Children, 14 years old 15 years old 16 years old 17 years old 18 years old Aged 19–25 Aged 19–45 Aged 19–65 Aged 45–65 Aged 65–85 Elderly people
Girls/women percentiles
5th
50th
95th
5th
50th
95th
850 910 975 1025 1070 1140 1180 1225 1290 1325 1360 1400 1480 1555 1620 1640 1660 1640 1635 1625 1610 1575 1515
930 990 1050 1110 1170 1230 1280 1330 1390 1430 1490 1550 1630 1690 1730 1750 1760 1760 1745 1740 1720 1685 1640
1010 1070 1125 1195 1270 1320 1380 1435 1490 1535 1620 1700 1780 1825 1840 1860 1860 1880 1860 1855 1830 1790 1765
825 895 965 1015 1070 1125 1185 1220 1270 1310 1370 1430 1480 1510 1520 1520 1530 1520 1515 1505 1495 1475 1400
890 970 1050 1100 1160 1220 1280 1330 1390 1440 1500 1550 1590 1610 1620 1620 1620 1620 1615 1610 1595 1570 1515
955 1045 1135 1185 1250 1315 1375 1440 1510 1570 1630 1670 1700 1710 1720 1720 1710 1720 1715 1710 1695 1670
Where there is fixed seating, for example, in a theatre, there should be a number of easily accessed amenity seats, which may have increased legroom, have removable arms or fold-down arms and may include a space for an assistance dog.
3 MOBILITY EQUIPMENT 3.01 Key dimensions Wheelchair users need quite a lot of space to move comfortably and safely; people who walk with two sticks may require a wider circulatory route than someone using a wheelchair. It is worth noting that a double pushchair may be wider than an occupied electric wheelchair. 3.02 Wheelchairs users The range of wheelchair dimensions is considerable, particularly given the overall length and width that an occupied wheelchair may extend to. The figures given for the width of a wheelchair user do not usually make allowance for their elbows and hands. The ISO standard for wheelchairs (ISO 7193) notes that to propel a wheelchair manually a clearance of not less than 50 mm, preferably 100 mm, on both sides is required. At the present time, the maximum length a conventional wheelchair user with leg supports or an electric scooter is likely to occupy is 1600 mm. Conventionally seated wheelchair users do not usually occupy a length of more than approximately 1250 mm. However, if a wheelchair user has a companion then their combined length of the space they occupy will be typically 1375 mm – design guidance allows for 1570 mm. The average height of wheelchair users is 1080 mm but can range as high as 1535 mm. The average height of a scooter user is approximately 1170 mm but can range as high as a maximum of 1500 mm.
Access and inclusion
In designing for wheelchair users, the critical dimensions are: height, around 120–130 mm below seated height, giving a • eye 5th–95th % range for wheelchair users from 960 to 1250 mm (1080–1315 mm for scooter users)
height, 500–690 mm • knee height, 460–490 mm • seat height, manual wheelchair users, 175–300 mm; electric • ankle wheelchair users, 380–520 mm • height to bottom of foot support, 60–150 mm. The ground clearance offered by typical scooters currently on the market can vary from 80 to 125 mm. The climbing capacity of typical scooters on the market also varies depending on the motor power and battery charge; however, most vary between 10 and 20 .
3.03 Wheelchair-user dimensions These dimensions exclude the wheelchair user and only consider length and width, 44.1. Dimensions in Table III are given for occupied and unoccupied wheelchairs over a range of wheelchair types including scooters.
44.1 Wheelchair dimensions
44.2 Wheelchair users performing a 90 turn
44-3
Table III Wheelchair dimensions Chair type (excluding children) Manual wheelchair Attendant propelled Electric wheelchair Electric scooter
Occupied
Unoccupied
Length (mm)
Width (mm)
Length (mm)
Width (mm)
850–1250
560–800
700–1200
560–750
1200–1570
560–700
800–1350
550–660
860–1520
560–800
700–1400
560–750
1170–1600
630–700
1170–1500
620–640
3.04 Pushchair dimensions The length and width dimensions of child pushchairs are very much variable. There is not, as is the case with manual wheelchairs, a standard model for informing design criteria. Table IV gives common dimensions.
3.05 Turning spaces Mobility aid vehicles clearly need adequate space to turn around and this will need to be considered in particular along circulation routes and in queue systems, Tables V and VI.
44.3 Wheelchair users performing a 180 turn
Table IV Pushchair dimensions Single buggy
Double buggy
Single Pushchair
Double pushchair
Double pushchair
Length ¼ 840 mm Width ¼ 435 mm
Length ¼ 840 mm Width ¼ 740 mm
Length ¼ 1060 mm Width ¼ 560 mm
Length ¼ 860 mm Width ¼ 950 mm
Length ¼ 1210 mm Width ¼ 560 mm
Access and inclusion
44-5
Table V Space required for users of self-propelled wheelchairs to turn through 90 , 44.2 Chair type
Space required Length (mm)
Manual wheelchair Attendant propelled Electric wheelchair Electric scooter
Width (mm)
1450 1500–1800 1625 1300–2500
1345 1200–1800 1600 1400–2500
Ninety per cent of users.
Table VI Space required for users of self-propelled wheelchairs to turn through 180 , 44.3 Chair type
Space required Length (mm)
Manual wheelchair Attendant propelled Electric wheelchair Electric scooter
1950 1600–2000 2275 2000–2800
Width (mm)
1500 1500–1800 1625 1300–2200
44.5 Person on crutches
Ninety percent of users.
3.06 Considerations for people that use a stick, cane or crutches It is important to consider people with a visual impairment that use a cane, 44.4, or people with a mobility impairment that may prefer to walk using crutches, 44.5 and 44.6. Most people who use crutches use them for a short time following an accident, and will be inexpert in their use. Users fall into two broad groups: those who have some use of both legs and feet, and those who have use of only one leg. Those who can use only one leg require a handhold wherever there are steps, even at a single step at a building threshold.
3.07 Space provision for assistance dogs Assistance dogs include guide dogs and hearing dogs. While people primarily with sensory impairments have an assistance dog, people with mobility impairments and wheelchair users may also have an assistance dog. Inclusive Mobility identifies that people with assistance dogs require a clear unobstructed width of at least 1100 mm.
44.6 Person with a walking frame
4 REACH RANGES
44.4 Blind person with cane
4.01 The distance and angle that an individual can reach is dependent on their size, agility, dexterity and whether they are seated or standing. The ability of a seated person, for example, in a wheelchair to reach, forward, sideways, upwards or downwards is different than someone standing.
44-6
Access and inclusion
Table VII Reach ranges Person
Wheelchair user
Access
Front
Reach angle
Extended
1000
1150
90
120
–
–
180
230
24
650
650
120
200
þ70
1060
1170
100
135
–
–
220
310
24
665
630
165
230
þ70
1500
1625
200
250
–
–
280
400
750
700
180
310
þ70 Horizontal (750)
Horizontal (750)
Ambulant disabled
Front
Horizontal (850) 24
Depth (D)
Comfortable
Side
Height (H)
Comfortable
Extended
With suitable knee recess provided. With suitable knee recess provided.
44.8 Side access 44.7 Front access Reach distance forms an arc, based on shoulder level. Reach range can be described as easy or comfortable (reach without much movement of the torso) or maximum or extended (just possible with movement of the torso). Research carried out for the preparation of BS 8300:2001 gives figures for comfortable and extended reach ranges, Table VII, 44.7 and 44.8.
5 WALKING DISTANCES 5.01 Mobility ranges Walking distances were researched in some detail in the late 1980s. US regulations, for example, note that on distances over 100 feet (30 m) disabled people are apt to rest frequently. These regulations suggest that to estimate travel times over longer distances, allowance should be made for 2 minutes rest time every 30 m.
Research based on a follow-up study to the London Area Travel Survey found that of disabled people who were able to walk, approximately 30% could manage no more than 50 m without stopping or severe discomfort. A further 20% could only manage between 50 and 200 m. Mobility ranges vary enormously between individuals with age and disability, while factors such as weather, topography (gradients) and obstacles can also affect mobility ranges. In pedestrian schemes, travel distances should not exceed: routes • 50100mmononunprotected routes • 200 m on covered completely enclosed routes. • Where gradients exist travel distances should be reduced. Conversely, the provision of seating and resting places can extend the distance people can traverse. The recommended maximum distance on level ground between resting places should be no more than 50 m.
Access and inclusion
5.02 Changes in level Any gradient less than 1:60 can be considered level. Changes in level cause problems for many people, particularly people with mobility or visual impairments. Even a single step can prevent access for someone with a mobility impairment and can present a trip hazard for all people. Where changes in level cannot be avoided, slopes or ramps should be designed in a user-friendly manner, although it should be noted that ramps are not always the ideal solution and can take up a great deal of space. Slopes or ramps provide access for people who use wheels, such as wheelchair users or parents with pushchairs. However, some people may find it easier to negotiate a flight of steps than a ramp and for them, the presence of handrails for support is essential. Where a change in level no greater than 300 mm, a ramp may be acceptable as the only means of access, avoiding the need for steps. Otherwise, steps would also be required. Where ramps are provided, they should be no steeper than 1:12 but preferably 1:20. Table VIII indicates the maximum length of a ramp before level landings are required. Table VIII Maximum ramp length between landings Gradient
Length of ramp between level landings (m)
1:20 1:19 1:18 1:17 1:16 1:15 1:14 1:13 1:12
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
It should be noted that if the level change exceeds 2 m, then the ramps become very difficult to use for many people including wheelchair users. There should be an alternative means of access for wheelchair users, such as a lift. (Details of lifts are given in Chapter 20.) Many people find long flights of stairs difficult to use; therefore, the maximum recommended number of steps should be 12 in a flight. If there are successive flights, it is important there are resting places, at least 1200 mm long (preferably 1800 mm) across the full width of the stair. There should be an unobstructed landing space at the top and bottom of a flight of stairs to avoid any collision. The design of suitable stairs will be dependent on a variety of factors such as location (external or internal), building type, floor-to-floor levels and other dimension constraints as well as whether they are fire escape stairs. As a rule of thumb, a comfortable step will have a rise of between 150 and 170 mm with a going between 280 and 425 mm deep, with a preference a minimum of 300 mm. Stair risers should be closed. Steps without projecting nosings remove a potential trip hazard. If necessary, the projection of a step nosing over the tread should be a maximum of 25 mm. All nosings should be made apparent on both the riser and tread, which will assist people ascending and descending the stair.
44-7
Stairs and steps should have a minimum clear width between handrails of 1000 mm. A handrail should be provided on both sides of the stair to allow people a choice as some people may only have strength on one side of their body. If the width of stairway is greater than 1800 mm there should be central/additional handrails to give people extra support. The channels themselves should not be less than 1000 mm between handrails. This precludes the design of stairs between 1800 and 2000 mm in width.
6 TOILETS 6.01 Without adequate toilets many people, especially disabled people, are limited in their ability to go out to work, to shop and so forth. The majority of disabled people do not require the use of unisex wheelchair accessible WCs. It is important that all toilet facilities are accessible, catering for a wide range of people, including older people and children. Therefore, things such as door opening pressures, range of heights of sinks and urinals, easy to use door furniture and tap design are key design factors in making all toilets useable. Another consideration is that women may require to use toilets more frequently than men and on average take longer than men (this is particularly true during particularly during menstruation or during and after pregnancy). The British Toilet Association recommends that twice the number of male cubicles plus number of male urinals is the appropriate number of cubicles for women.
6.02 Children’s toilets Children are often not considered in the design of toilets. Many children can be deterred from independent use of toilet facilities by poor design and specification. It should also be possible in developments that are likely to have many children using them, for example, leisure facilities, to provide separate children’s toilets. These could be provided with associated family facilities, such as nappy-changing facilities. Nappy-changing facilities must never be situated in accessible toilets. It is important that separate wheelchair accessible nappy-changing areas are provided. There are approximately 1.6 million people who have continence problems. Up to 4 million people, mainly men, affected by ‘shy bladder syndrome’ (avoidant paruresis) and therefore the layout of toilets should provide ‘line of sight’ privacy’, an adequate number of cubicles and privacy screens.
6.03 Adult-changing facilities In larger developments, consideration should also be given to adult-changing facilities. Some people, including people with profound and multiple disabilities, need to be laid flat to be changed within WC accommodation. If adult-changing facilities are not provided, people may have to change a person on the floor. This is undignified, unhygienic and involves heavy lifting by others, such as carers or personal assistants, which could cause serious back injuries.