Curb ramp and accessibility element upgrade prioritization: A literature review and analysis of multi-state survey data

Curb ramps are a universally beneficial element of the built environment, providing improved access for all users. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires compliant ramps to be installed with new construction or when a facility is altered. The large quantity of ramps and other facilities that must be upgraded to achieve full compliance, coupled with limited budgets, often requires states to prioritize ramps for retrofit over time. Users with varying disabilities might prioritize curb ramp improvements differently. This study assessed the state of the practice for prioritizing curb ramp upgrades and retrofits. A background review of national standards and guidance related to curb ramps was conducted. Prioritization processes for similar accessibility elements, including sidewalks and accessible pedestrian signals, were gathered through a literature review. State representatives were contacted through an email survey to identify existing prioritization processes for curb ramps. Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines and Proposed Accessibility Guidelines for Pedestrian Facilities in the Public Right-of-Way provide similar standards and guidelines for accessibility. Three studies found that pedestrians with vision disabilities found domed surfaces most detectable, although users with mobility disabilities experienced negative safety and negotiability impacts with detectable warning surfaces. Compliance with accessibility standards and citizen requests were most commonly used for prioritization at the state level; localities were more likely to consider proximity to pedestrian generators and transit. These findings provide a foundational resource for agencies developing or revising prioritization processes for curb ramp retrofits.Peer Reviewe

Content Accessibility of Web documents. Principles and Recommendations

The paper is an overview of issues related to the accessibility of Web sites, of European initiatives and recommendations in the field, of future solutions, such as developing Web 2.0 accessible applications with WAI-ARIA. As part of the Pro-Inclusiv project was included a set of accessibility recommendations to design web sites, recommendations presented in the paper.Web accessibility, users with disabilities, standards and recommendations

Analysis of U.S. Senate Web Sites For Disability Accessibility

U.S. federal government web sites have increased significantly the level of services and information offered to various internal and external stakeholders. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 amended Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which complemented the intent and aims of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As a result, federal agencies and departments were mandated to provide disabled stakeholders with access to key information from federal web sites. However, since this enactment, some federal web sites still do not meet fully the legal requirements to accommodate users with disabilities. Additionally, web sites of members of the U.S. Congress technically do not fall under regulation. Without regulation, non-adherence to accessibility standards by congressional web sites may result in poor or ineffective utilization by citizen consumers or other stakeholders with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the accessibility statistics for a pseudo-random sample of 50 web sites of U.S. Senators. The main web page of each site was evaluated with an online web site analysis software tool – Truwex. Three factors were used to gauge the level of accessibility: criteria based on Section 508, WCAG 1.0 standards, and WCAG 2.0 standards. Results suggest that the vast majority of the U.S. Senate web sites do not meet the federal legal guidelines that otherwise are imposed on other U.S. governmental agencies and departments. Many of the sites contain consistent patterns of non-compliance, and some minor changes could result in increased accessibility for disabled stakeholders

How the web continues to fail people with disabilities

The digital divide is most often understood as that between the IT haves and have-nots. However, if there is one minority group that can be, and often is excluded from the world wide web, even if they have a computer, it is disabled people. The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act 2001 (SENDA) extended the provisions within the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 regarding the provision of services to the education sector. Yet accessible web design, dependent on professional coding standards, adherence to guidelines, and user testing, remains rare on the web. This paper examines the background to professional coding standards, and adherence to guidelines, in an attempt to find out why the web continues to fail people with disabilities. It begins by examining the progress of the transition in the 1990s from old style HTML to strict XHTML. It applauds the vision behind that transition, charts its progress identifying the principle constituencies that it involves – and how well each has played its part. It then focuses on the further problem of the requirement for user testing to iron out anomalies not covered by standards and guidelines. It concludes that validating XHTML code is desirable, but that user testing also needs to be undertaken. It identifies the complex and heterogeneous network of interrelated concerns through which the needs of disabled web users remain unheeded. To support its argument, the paper details the results of two studies – 1) of the homepages of 778 public bodies and blue chip companies, which found only 8% of homepages validated against any declared Document Type Declarations (DTD), and 2) a wider research project on employment websites which also included disabled user testing and a number of focus groups and interviews with disabled users and web development companies

Analysis of the Application of Universal Design Standards to Interior-Architecture Design

A lot of research shows the findings of cases of public facilities that are not accessible to people with disabilities and see the importance of a design especially in the field of architecture-interior that is able to produce a user-friendly and barrier-free built environment ) Accessibility rights for persons with disabilities are regulated in various regulations starting from the regulations in the central government in the form of laws, government regulations, to ministerial regulations on public works and regional regulations. There is one regulation of the minister of public works and Republic of Indonesia's public housing No.14 2017 which regulates the provision of facilities in buildings and the environment that meet the needs of all age groups and conditions of physical, mental, and intellectual, or sensory limitations based on the function of buildings users and visitors on activities in public buildings, but this guideline has not been discussed in detail. This study is intended to review the analysis of universal design standards in the Interior-Architecture design process specifically in public buildings. Keywords Universal Design, Evaluation, Architecture, Interior, Design

Accessibility of Information on Marketplace Websites for Consumers with Disabilities

The need for information accessibility for people with disabilities is to access website-based information. However, until now, several websites still do not have an optimal level of accessibility, including marketplace websites in Indonesia. The purpose of this research is producing information about the evaluation results of the marketplace platform website as a consideration to make steps to increase website accessibility more effective. The method of this research is evaluative, it was conducted using the accessibility evaluation of several tools. The results of the evaluation of the accessibility of the most visited marketplace website in Indonesia show that there are still violations of certain standards in the WCAG guidelines. There are accessibility barriers at various levels and types of issues that users with disabilities will face when visiting the website. A number of recommendations are presented to improve the quality of accessibility for users with disabilities

STUDY ON THE USE OF ANTIPSYCHOTIC MEDICATION IN AN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY (ID) COMMUNITY CASELOAD

Background: People with intellectual disabilities (ID) are prescribed antipsychotic medications for different reasons; sometimes this is for a mental illness such as psychotic or affective symptoms, however antipsychotics are also used to improve behaviours that challenge, which are common in people with intellectual disabilities (ID) or autism or both. Antipsychotic medications can have many unwanted side effects and these should be monitored for. Guidelines also indicate that reductions in medication should be considered at psychiatry reviews and alternative interventions should be trialled. Methodology: Using national recommendations on antipsychotic prescribing and monitoring and also on reducing antipsychotics in people with intellectual disabilities (ID), audit standards were determined. Results: The Bedford caseload included 192 service users; of these 2 were new referrals and had yet to be seen so were not included. 70 of the remaining 190 were not on an antipsychotic medication. 120 patients were on an antipsychotic medication. Medical records of 60 of these were audited against the identified standards. The records over the previous year were observed to see either how an antipsychotic was started or an existing antipsychotic was monitored compared to the standards

Mealtime support for adults with intellectual disabilities: Understanding an everyday activity

Background: Mealtime support has a direct bearing on the diet-related health of men and women with intellectual disabilities as well as opportunities for expressing dietary preferences. Method: Semi-structured interviews with a sample of direct support staff providing mealtime support to adults with intellectual disabilities. Results: When managing tensions between a person's dietary preferences and ensuring safe and adequate nutrition and hydration, direct support staff are sensitive to a wide range of factors. These include the following: clinical advice; service users’ rights to choose; their (in)capacity to weigh up risks; how service users communicate; the constituents of a healthy diet; and a duty to protect service users' health. Conclusions: Those responsible for setting standards and regulating the care practices need to look beyond too simple ideas of choice and safety to recognize ways in which providing support at mealtimes is a complex activity with serious consequences for people's health and well-being

The use of standards for identifying, codifying and transmitting expert ergonomic knowledge

Formal technical standards based on ergonomic principles can ensure that products, systems and services are fit for purpose, accessible and useable. The application of these standards should be used to ensure that items of technology meet political requirements for equality by enabling the full range of end users to participate in the digital society. Ergonomists and representatives of consumers participate in the specification and creation of these standards to ensure that their content is relevant, correct and up-to-date. They work to ensure that the standards accurately represent the needs and requirements of end users including amongst others people with disabilities, older people and people with different language and cultural backgrounds. A number of these standards are referenced in law and in procurement contracts. They are not often not used in higher education resulting in knowledge deficit for young technical professionals. The paper is based on the authors experience including working in the area of accessibility standardization and at a University which prides itself on the diversity of its staff and has students from more than 150 nations. The paper ends with a consideration of the way in which more effective use can be made of these standards