Access to what?

The type of access I am referring to is physical access. Access to the built environment. This means buildings, transport areas, streets and sidewalks, and anywhere the public can go. I called this page access, but it's really more than that. It is the way people move through a variety of spaces and the methods they use to navigate those spaces.

History

In 1997 I took a course through the Canadian Institute for Barrier Free Design and became a certified Access Consultant. It is a consultant looking at the built environment through the lens of Universal Design. That term is now being tossed around for many things and the original principles have been taken and modified for a variety of disciplines. One of the major new ones is education calling it "universal design of learning, which has almost has nothing to do with the original principles accept the name. After I received that certification, I got a job at the CIBFD as there office assistant and access consultant to the Faculty of Architecture. I worked there for five years and did the bulk of my traveling during that time. As you can see on my travel page.

What is Universal Design?

universal design is a concepts where the largest segments of the population can use a space comfortably and easily. However, you cannot walk in to a room of engineers and say it is a concept. They want numbers and spaces and one size fits all solutions. It does not work that way. There are seven principles of Universal design some of which can seem to conflict. But, that is what we have and thinking outside the box is a must.

The seven principles of Universal Design are:

Equitable Use
The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.
Flexibility in Use
The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities
Simple and Intuitive Use
Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the users experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.
Perceptible Information
The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user’s sensory abilities.
Tolerance for Error
The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.
Low Physical Effort
The design can be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue.
Size and Space for Approach and Use
Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of user’s body size, posture, or mobility.
Adapted from the Center for Universal Design - Principles of Universal design

outside spaces

In 2002 a new process was developed for assessing trails. Not only for accessibility, but usability as well. As someone so aptly put it, you are not going to put concrete on every back trail to make it wheelchair accessible. No, but, with the Universal Trails Assessment process, you can put signage at the trail head which tells the user exactly what they are in for. I became both a Universal Trail assessment coordinator and trainer in 2002. Unfortunately, getting employment in this field is not good either. However, it does give you a perspective on hiking back country trails from many points of view including the hiker, back packer, walker, horse back rider, snowmobile rider, etc. The key to the entire process is the provision of information. Even though you do not put concrete on every trail, you can use soil stabilizer to make it more firm for easier use for wheelchair users and walkers.

This particular phase of my life ended in March 2003 when the Faculty of Architecture closed the Universal Design Institute, (they changed their name in 2000), where I worked. Again, unless you get a government contract, people usually want access information for nothing because not for Profits have been handing out their own brand of access information for years. Businesses were not willing to pay for that information. So, I had to go elsewhere.