Infrastructure for everyone
When facing challenges regarding accessibility in infrastructure, I offer advice to find the right solution.
Accessibility in infrastructure
The accessibility concept
The concept of accessibility (universal design) in infrastructure aims to ensure that your infrastructure can be utilized by everyone – including people with disabilities. Focusing on accessibility also ensures more user-friendly infrastructure for pedestrians with strollers or other pedestrians on wheels.
Accessibility for users with impairments
Users with impairments include "persons who have a long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which, in combination with various barriers, may prevent them from fully and effectively participating in society on an equal basis with others" (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006, ratified by the Danish Folketing 2009).
Accessibility audits
An accessibility audit is an impartial and critical review of your infrastructure project, carried out according to the principles and recommendations in the Danish road standards handbook Traffic areas for everyone.
Road Standards for accessibility
Go to the Danish Road Standards handbook Accessibility audits
Recommendations
The process of an accessibility audit
As an accessibility auditor, I participate as an impartial member of the project from the planning stage until the project is constructed.
The process
As a certified accessibility auditor, I review your project and make recommendations on how accessibility in the project can be optimized. Together we review issues and solutions, and conclude the audit with a dissertation meeting, where the decisions are noted in the audit report. In this way, the accessibility audit will also function as a logbook of which decisions have been made and why.
When should accessibility audits be conducted?
An accessibility audit is recommended as a minimum at the final design stage of all projects where pedestrians occur, i.e. city and suburban areas, facilities with public transport, tourist areas, areas with special functions (e.g. shopping malls, museums, health centres, schools, etc.).
Is accessibility expensive?
Aaccessibility can often be improved at little cost, and a focus on accessibility does not necessarily require increased fundings. As for road safety audits, it is far easier and cheaper to implement corrections before the project is constructed.
Accessibility in general
If experiencing special challenges where, due to surroundings, constructions or other conditions, you may find it difficult to find a good solution for accessibility, always feel free to reach out for advice or an assessment of a specific solution.