The deadline for complying with Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act may be three years away, but service providers should act now. Access consultant Nick Calton provides practical advice on how best to comply with its requirements
The clock is ticking. Service providers in all their many guises as property owners, property managers, facilities managers, landlords and tenants have just three more years, until 2004, to ensure that they comply with the provisions of Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Since October 1999 it has been a requirement for any business that has any physical features preventing disabled persons from using a service, to take steps to provide that service in an alternative way. The 2004 deadline may seem a long-way off, but there is nothing to stop service providers making changes to their sites now.

The act defines a person with a disability as 'someone, who is unable to carry out normal day-to-day activities, whether it is a temporary or permanent affliction'. This is a reasonably broad definition but even so, access to a building or facility should not be thought of only in terms of the disabled. Access for all is the required design goal and the needs of people from all sectors of the population, be it parents with children, the temporarily infirm (which now includes cancer sufferers) or the elderly, must also be considered.

As a service provider you may be discriminating against a disabled person:

  • by treating the person less favourably than other customers because of their disability, either by providing them with a lower standard of service or by refusing to serve them outright
  • by failing to make reasonable adjustments to the way you deliver your services, so that disabled people can use them. You should consider whether your services are accessible by anticipating the time and effort a disabled person would have to expend in accessing them
Access audits
Assessing the situation from a disabled person's viewpoint is not easy. The best way to establish a building's accessibility is to carry out an access audit using a suitably qualified access consultant, who will advise on any areas needing improvement and on how any improvements can be most cost effectively achieved.

Some major towns and cities have local disabled access groups consisting, in the main, of disabled people who are willing to offer advice to businesses on making their premises accessible. Some, but by no means all, local councils have an access officer, who can offer advice and guidance. Building control officers will provide advice on compliance with the Building Regulations. However, it should be borne in mind that the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act might exceed the requirements of the Building Regulations. Also adding to the confusion is the fact that councils differ on where the responsibility for advice on disabled access lies. Some place it with their planning department, others with their social services function.

The actual method of audit should consist of a logical progression through the property and its facilities. All public areas should be audited and areas excluded from the audit should also be recorded. A simple checklist for each area should be utilised, and relevant notes made on items such as door widths, counter heights, toilet facilities and steps. Photographs are a useful additional measure and should be cross-referenced throughout the report. The checklists should be compiled into a summary of actions showing the present situation and the suggested remedy, with priorities allocated dependent on the severity of the access deficiency. The audit should provide the business with an ongoing maintenance plan, to show areas that need regular monitoring.

All businesses should already have emergency evacuation plans in place under BS 5588 Part 8. These may clash with the solutions suggested in the access audit and it is therefore important that the evacuation plan is made available to the consultant and incorporated into the final recommendations. The consultant should be able to offer advice on any changes required to the emergency exit plan. Once the audit has been completed the consultant can discuss the findings with the service provider, and agree how best to undertake any necessary adaptations, as well as providing advice on design and costings.

Common pitfalls
When making alterations to premises there are some common problems to consider. This list is not exhaustive but should give an insight:

  • always try and implement passive solutions first, before using a gadget – they won't break down and are cheaper
  • make facilities predictable so that a toilet cubicle in a building in John O'Groats has the same layout and fittings as one at Land's End
  • doors approached head-on are much easier to negotiate than those on a corner and could be narrower
  • test door-closure pressures and adjust the springs as this makes a door much easier to operate
  • use 'D' or 'L' shaped door handles – these are easier to use
  • try to accommodate a more generous lift than the 1100mm x1400mm as stated in Part M of the Building Regulations, to cater for the increased size of powered wheelchairs
  • consider the heights and sizes of controls and switches
  • avoid shiny stainless steel and endless grey – they provide no contrast for the visually impaired
  • consider the disabling nature of sound and echo in a building
  • circulation routes should be as direct as possible and should not overly rely on signs
  • incorporate the possible evacuation of disabled people, of all types, into your emergency evacuation procedures
  • give your frontline staff some basic awareness training on the various types of disability. There are over 8.5 million disabled people but most of us do not come into contact with them on a day-to-day basis
  • remember to advertise that you are 'disabled friendly'. It is no use doing the work and then not telling people
  • do not consider accessibility as being solely concerned with wheelchair access to premises
Above all, when designing for access remember to consult those who have a knowledge of disability or disabled people themselves. The ultimate purpose of the Act is to end the discrimination that many disabled people face and in many cases the changes required are as much in attitude as in physical alterations.

Contacts

Local Access groups can be contacted through RADAR (Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation). Tel: 020 7250 3222, email: radar@radar.org.uk, www.radar.org.uk
The Disability Rights Commission can advise on compliance. Helpline: 0845 7622633, email: enquiry@drc-gb.org, www.drc-gb.org