Accessibility - Handicap International

Key points for consideration to ensure
quality of a local accessibility diagnosis:
/ General diagnoses should be coordinated
by an accessibility professional
whose skills have been validated by
Handicap International’s technical advisor.
Individual diagnoses in each study
area should be carried out by trained
technicians.
/ People with disabilities should participate
in the diagnosis. All impairments
should be represented as different
impairments mean different problems.
These participants have an important
role to play in choosing the places to be
studied and carrying out the diagnosis
as they provide differing perspectives on
problems which are not always visible
to, or understood by the technicians.
/ The diagnosis should preferably be
carried out in collaboration with the
local authorities. In addition to the
local authorities, the diagnosis should
try to include as many of the stakeholders
concerned as possible, including,
for example, public or private property
owners, student architects, etc. As far
as possible, feedback on the diagnosis
should be given to all those included in
the consultation phase.
/ The technicians who prepare the diagnoses
should, where possible, estimate
the cost of work to improve accessibility,
so that the work to be carried out
can be scheduled and priorities set in
terms of concrete objectives.
/ Once the places to be diagnosed have
been selected, prior consultation should
be carried out and written consent obtained
from the owners for surveyors to
enter their premises.
/ A questionnaire should be developed,
based on the national regulations, for
each type of premises targeted by
the survey. It should include the same
sequence of questions (circulation, furniture,
signposting, welcome, etc.).
/ The participation of architecture, area
planning and engineering students adds
value to the project as they are the future
town planners.
/ The diagnosis should be applied as far
as possible by surveyors working in pairs
made up of a technician and a representative
of people with disabilities, which
serves to build the capacities of both
members of the pairing.
/ All surveyors should be selected using
written tests and interviews.
/ All the people selected for the survey
should receive at least one day’s training.
Receiving training is a compulsory
pre-requisite for participating in the diagnosis.
/ The results of the study as regards the
accessibility of the town (summary presenting
the main needs identified and
recommendations) should be widely
publicized (number of documents distributed
or available on websites, etc.).
24