Accessibility

Various countries have legislation requiring physical accessibility which are (in order of enactment):

• In the US, under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,[15] new public and private business construction generally must be accessible. Existing private businesses are required to increase the accessibility of their facilities when making any other renovations in proportion to the cost of the other renovations. The United States Access Board[16] is "A Federal Agency Committed to Accessible Design for People with Disabilities." The Job Accommodation Network discusses accommodations for people with disabilities in the workplace.[17] Many states in the US have their own disability laws.
• In Australia, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 has numerous provisions for accessibility.[18]
• In South Africa the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 2000 has numerous provisions for accessibility.[19]
• In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 has numerous provisions for accessibility.[20]
• In Sri Lanka, the Supreme Court, on 27 April 2011 gave a landmark order to boost the inherent right of disabled persons to have unhindered access to public buildings and facilities.[21]
• In Norway, the Discrimination and Accessibility Act Diskriminerings- og tilgjengelighetsloven defines lack of accessibility as discrimination and obliges public authorities to implement universal design in their areas. The Act refers to issue-specific legislation regarding accessibility in e.g. ICT, the built environment, transport and education.[22]
• In Brazil, the Brazilian law on the inclusion of people with disabilities has numerous provisions for accessibility.[23]
• In Canada, relevant federal legislation includes the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Employment Equity Act, the Canadian Labour Code, and the Accessible Canada Act (Bill-C81) which made Royal Assent on June 21, 2019.[24]

Legislation may also be enacted on a state, provincial or local level. In Ontario, Canada, the Ontarians with Disabilities Act of 2001 is meant to "improve the identification, removal and prevention of barriers faced by persons with disabilities.[25].."

The European Union (EU), which has signed the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, also has adopted a European Disability Strategy for 2010–20. The Strategy includes the following goals, among others:[26]

• devising policies for inclusive, high-quality education;
• ensuring the European Platform Against Poverty includes a special focus on people with disabilities (the forum brings together experts who share best practices and experience);
• working towards the recognition of disability cards throughout the EU to ensure equal treatment when working, living or travelling in the bloc
• developing accessibility standards for voting premises and campaign material;
• taking the rights of people with disabilities into account in external development programmes and for EU candidate countries.

A European Accessibility Act was proposed in late 2012.[27] This Act would establish standards within member countries for accessible products, services, and public buildings. The harmonization of accessibility standards within the EU "would facilitate the social integration of persons with disabilities and the elderly and their mobility across member states, thereby also fostering the free movement principle".[28]

Disability Management (DM) is a specialized area of human resources, to support efforts by employers to better integrate and retain workers with disabilities. Some workplaces have policies in place to provide "reasonable accommodation" for employees with disabilities, however, many do not. In some jurisdictions, employers may have legal requirements to end discrimination against persons with disabilities.

It has been noted by researchers that where accommodations are in place for employees with disabilities, these frequently apply to individuals with "pre-determined or apparent disabilities as determined by national social protection or Equality Authorities",[36] which include persons with pre-existing conditions who receive an official disability designation. One of the biggest challenges for employers is in developing policies and practises to manage employees who develop disabilities during the course of employment. Even where these exist, they tend to focus on workplace injuries, overlooking job retention challenges faced by employees who acquire a non-occupation injury or illness. Protecting employability is a factor that can help close the unemployment gap for persons with disabilities.[36]

Meetings and conferences should consider the needs of all of their participants. Checklists such as this may make it easier to identify specific needs:[37]

Mobility access

• Wheelchair accessible transportation - see Persons with reduced mobility
• Reserved parking
• Barrier-free meeting rooms / restrooms / podium/speaker's platform
• ADA Compliant Ramp Access to businesses and public places[38]
• Accessible lodging

Hearing access

• Advance copies of papers
• An assistive listening system
• Sign language interpreters
• A quiet place to gather for social conversation (a quieter space that is still visible to others should be reserved at social events or dinners so that people who are hard of hearing may go there to talk with their colleagues.)
• TTY access or Internet-based TRS

full access

• Large print/braille copies of the program and papers
• A student volunteer to guide and describe the artwork, computer work, etc.
• A tech to help with assistive devices and screen readers (e.g., JAWS)
• Gloves to touch three dimensional work (where permissible)

Other issues

• Notification if social events include flashing lights and noises (these can cause seizures, so either avoid them or announce them ahead of time).
• Notices asking participants to refrain from allergy-producing problems (e.g., perfumes)
• Inform food providers of food allergies (e.g., peanuts, shellfish, etc.)
• Referral information for local personal care attendant agencies
• Referral information for veterinarian care for service animals
• Access to a place to rest during the day (if the conference venue is far from the lodgings)

Generally since the 1960s, accessibility instruments have been developed for a multitude of contexts and scopes. These instruments have their focus on origins and on destinations, they measure access through time, distance or cost and focus on different modes of transportation and geographical scales. Accessibility instruments are thus able to show what are the best accessible places or opportunities within a city or region, considering one or more specific modes of transportation, timeslots and target groups. In addition to this, the maps, which are produced as the instrument output, are considered as considerably useful when assessing the effects of new developments in a city. The first ever first large scale compendium of accessibility instruments was developed in 2012, under the framework of Cost Action TU1002, and is available.[41]

Despite the high potential of accessibility in integrating the different components of urban planning, such as land use and transportation and the large number of accessibility instruments available in the research literature, the latter are not widely used to support urban planning practices.[42] By keeping the accessibility language out of the practice level, older paradigms resist the more informed and people-centred approaches. Focusing on the link between research and practice, the Cost Action TU1002 [43] seeks to find out why accessibility instruments are not more often used in urban planning practice and reflects on how to reduce such implementation gap in planning practice. The existence of accessibility instruments is fairly acknowledged, but practitioners do not appear to have found them useful or usable enough for addressing the tasks of sustainable urban management. This Cost Action TU1002 is bringing together developers of accessibility instruments all over Europe and Australia to work with land use and transportation planning practitioners to explore how these instruments can play a more supportive role in enhancing accessibility in European cities and beyond. So far, 24 Accessibility Instruments have been gathered, analysed and described so as to understand in detail their characteristics, planning issues addressed and specific purposes, according to the developers’ view. In turn, these instruments are being tested in a series of workshops with multidisciplinary teams of practitioners around Europe addressing the issue of usability from the practitioners’ viewpoint. In doing so, it is expected that the additional knowledge on the potential of accessibility instruments for urban planning practice will have beneficial impacts on urban quality and decision making on urban land use patterns.

A wheelchair accessible taxi with a rear ramp, Tokyo Motor Show 2009

Automobile accessibility also refers to ease of use by disabled people. Automobiles, whether a car or a van, can be adapted for a range of physical disabilities. Foot pedals can be raised, or replaced with hand-controlled devices. Wheelchair hoists, lifts or ramps may be customized according to the needs of the driver. Ergonomic adaptations, such as a lumbar support cushion, may also be needed.[44]

Generally, the more limiting the disability, the more expensive the adaptation needed for the vehicle. Financial assistance is available through some organizations, such as Motability in the United Kingdom, which requires a contribution by the prospective vehicle owner. Motability makes vehicles available for purchase or lease.[45]

When an employee with a disability requires an adapted car for work use, the employee does not have to pay for a "reasonable adjustment" in the United Kingdom; if the employer is unable to pay the cost, assistance is offered by government programs.[46]

A retractable wheelchair-access ramp in Protram 205 WrAs tram

A significant development in transportation, and public transport in particular, to achieve accessibility, is the move to "low-floor" vehicles. In a low-floor vehicle, access to part or all of the passenger cabin is unobstructed from one or more entrances by the presence of steps, enabling easier access for the infirm or people with push chairs. A further aspect may be that the entrance and corridors are wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair. Low-floor vehicles have been developed for buses, trolleybuses and trams.

A low floor in the vehicular sense is normally combined in a conceptual meaning with normal pedestrian access from a standard kerb (curb) height. However, the accessibility of a low-floor vehicle can also be utilised from slightly raising portions of kerb at bus stops, or through use of level boarding bus rapid transit stations or tram stops.[47] The combination of access from a kerb was the technological development of the 1990s, as step-free interior layouts for buses had existed in some cases for decades, with entrance steps being introduced as chassis designs and overall height regulations changed.

Low-floor buses may also be designed with special height adjustment controls that permit a stationary bus to temporarily lower itself to ground level, permitting wheelchair access. This is referred to as a kneeling bus.

At rapid transit systems, vehicles generally have floors in the same height as the platforms but the stations are often underground or elevated, so accessibility there isn't a question of providing low-floor vehicles, but providing a step-free access from street level to the platforms (generally by elevators, which are somewhat restricted to disabled passengers only, so that the step-free access isn't obstructed by healthy people taking advantage).

In the United Kingdom, local transport authorities are responsible for checking that all people who live within their area can access essential opportunities and services, and where gaps in provision are identified the local authorities are responsible for organizing changes to make new connections. These requirements are defined in the UK Community Planning Acts legislation[48] and more detailed guidance has been issued by the Department for Transport for each local authority. This includes the requirement to produce an Accessibility Plan under Community Planning legislation and to incorporate this within their Local Transport Plan.[49] An Accessibility Plan sets out how each local authority plans to improve access to employment, learning, health care, food shops and other services of local importance, particularly for disadvantaged groups and areas. Accessibility targets are defined in the accessibility plans, these are often the distance or time to access services by different modes of transport including walking, cycling and public transport.

Accessibility Planning was introduced as a result of the report "Making the Connections: Final Report on Transport and Social Exclusion".[50] This report was the result of research carried out by the Social Exclusion Unit. The United Kingdom also has a "code of practice" for making train and stations accessible: "Accessible Train and Station Design for Disabled People: A Code of Practice".[51] This code of practice was first published in 2002 with the objective of compliance to Section 71B of the Railways Act 1993,[52] and revised after a public consultation period in 2008.

Making public services fully accessible to the public has led to some technological innovations. Public announcement systems using audio induction loop technology can broadcast announcements directly into the hearing aid of anyone with a hearing impairment, making them useful in such public places as auditoriums and train stations. Australia's government has supported the creation of the National Public Toilet Map, to enable users to locate public toilet facilities throughout the country.[53] GPS is also included as a feature. The service assists people with continence issues, which is estimated to be up to 18% of the population, including the elderly and families with young children.

Tactile paving can assist the visually impaired as they walk.

Accessibility modifications to conventional urban environments has become common in recent decades. The use of a curb cut, or kassel kerb, to enable wheelchair or walker movement between sidewalk and street level is found in most major cities of wealthy countries. The creation of priority parking spaces and of disabled parking permits has made them a standard feature of urban environments. Features that assist people with visual impairments include braille signs and tactile paving to allow a user with a cane to easily identify stairways, train platforms, and similar areas that could pose a physical danger to anyone who has a visual impairment.

Urban design features that may appear to be simple conveniences for persons without disabilities are often essential to anyone who has a disability. The loss of these features presents a significant barrier. For example, sometimes a lack of prompt snow-clearing on sidewalks of major Canadian city streets means that wheelchair and walker users cannot reach pedestrian crossing buttons on crosswalk posts, due to snow bank accumulation around the posts, making the crossing buttons inaccessible. Public services must take into account the need to maintain accessibility features in the urban environment.

Accessibility in the design of housing and household devices has become more prominent in recent decades due to a rapidly ageing population in developed countries.[58] Ageing seniors may wish to continue living independently, but the ageing process naturally increases the disabilities that a senior citizen will experience. A growing trend is the desire for many senior citizens to 'age in place', living as independently as possible for as long as possible. Accessibility modifications that allow ageing in place are becoming more common. Housing may even be designed to incorporate accessibility modifications that can be made throughout the life cycle of the residents.

The English Housing Survey for 2018/19 found only 9% of homes in England have key features, such as a toilet at entrance level and sufficiently wide doorways, to deem them accessible. This was an improvement from 5% in 2005. More than 400,000 wheelchair users in England were living in homes which are neither adapted nor accessible.[59]

One of the first areas where information technology improved the quality of life for disabled individuals is the voice operated wheelchair. Quadriplegics have the most profound disability, and the voice operated wheelchair technology was first developed in 1977 to provide increased mobility. The original version replaced the joystick system with a module that recognized 8 commands. Many other technology accommodation improvements have evolved from this initial development.[71]

Missing arms and fingers interferes with the use of a keyboard and pointing device (mouse). This can be one of the most devastating types of handicap, and technology has made great improvements in this area during the last 20 years. Speech recognition devices and software can improve technology access.

A communication disorder interferes with the ability to produce clearly understandable speech. There can be many different causes, such as nerve degeneration, muscle degeneration, stroke, and vocal cord injury. The modern method to deal with speaking disabilities has been to provide a text interface for a speech synthesizer for complete vocal disability. This can be a great improvement for people that have been limited to the use of a throat vibrator to produce speech since the 1960s.

An individual satisfies the definition of hearing disabled when hearing loss is about 30 dB for a single frequency, but this is not always perceptible as a handicap.[72] For example, loss of sensitivity in one ear interferes with sound localization (directional hearing), which can interfere with communication in a crowd. This is often recognized when certain words are confused during normal conversation. This can interfere with voice-only interfaces, like automated customer service telephone systems, because it is sometimes difficult to increase the volume and repeat the message.

Mild to moderate hearing loss may be accommodated with a hearing aid that amplifies ambient sounds. Portable devices with speed recognition that can produce text can reduce problems associated with understanding conversation. This kind of hearing loss is relatively common, and this often grows worse with age.

The modern method to deal with profound hearing disability is the Internet using email or word processing applications. The telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) became available in the form of the teletype (TTY) during the 1960s. These devices consist of a keyboard, display and modem that connects two or more of these devices using a dedicated wire or plain old telephone service.

Modern computer animation allows for sign language avatars to be integrated into public areas. This technology could potentially make train station announcements, news broadcasts, etc. accessible when a human interpreter is not available.[73][74]

A wide range of technology products are available to deal with visual impairment. This includes screen magnification for monitors, screen-reading technology for computers and small screen devices, mouse-over speech synthesis browsing, braille displays, braille printers, braille cameras, voice-operated phones, and tablets.

One emerging product that will make ordinary computer displays available for the blind is the refreshable tactile display, which is very different from a conventional braille display. This provides a raised surface corresponding to the bright and dim spots on a conventional display. An example is the Touch Sight Camera for the Blind.

Speech Synthesis Markup Language (V1.0 Released 7 September 2004[75]) and Speech Recognition Grammar Specification (V1.0 released 16 March 2004[76]) are relatively recent technologies intended to standardize communication interfaces using Augmented BNF Form and XML Form. These technologies assist visual impairments and physical impairment by providing interactive access to web content without the need to visually observe the content. While these technologies provides access for visually impaired individuals, the primary benefactor has been automated systems that replace live human customer service representatives that handle telephone calls.

There have been a few major movements to coordinate a set of guidelines for accessibility for the web. The first and most well known is The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), which is part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This organization developed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 and 2.0 which explain how to make Web content accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. Web "content" generally refers to the information in a Web page or Web application, including text, images, forms, and sounds. (More specific definitions are available in the WCAG documents.)[77]

The WCAG is separated into three levels of compliance, A, AA and AAA. Each level requires a stricter set of conformance guidelines, such as different versions of HTML (Transitional vs Strict) and other techniques that need to be incorporated into coding before accomplishing validation. Online tools allow users to submit their website and automatically run it through the WCAG guidelines and produce a report, stating whether or not they conform to each level of compliance. Adobe Dreamweaver also offers plugins which allow web developers to test these guidelines on their work from within the program.

The ISO/IEC JTC1 SC36 WG7 24751 Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in e-learning, education and training series is freely available and made of 3 parts: Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in e-learning, education and training, Standards inventory and Guidance on user needs mapping.

Another source of web accessibility guidance comes from the US government. In response to Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act, the Access Board developed standards to which U.S. federal agencies must comply in order to make their sites accessible. The U.S. General Services Administration has developed a website where one can take online training courses for free to learn about these rules.[78]

Examples of accessibility features include:

• WAI-AA compliance with the WAI's WCAG
• Semantic Web markup
• (X)HTML Validation from the W3C for the page's content
• CSS Validation from the W3C for the page's layout
• Compliance with all guidelines from Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act
• A high contrast version of the site for individuals with low vision, and a low contrast (yellow or blue) version of the site for individuals with dyslexia
• Alternative media for any multimedia used on the site (video, flash, audio, etc.)
• Simple and consistent navigation
• Device independent

While WCAG provides much technical information for use by web designers, coders and editors, BS 8878:2010 Web accessibility – Code of Practice[79] has been introduced, initially in the UK, to help site owners and product managers to understand the importance of accessibility. It includes advice on the business case behind accessibility, and how organisations might usefully update their policies and production processes to embed accessibility in their business-as-usual. On 28 May 2019, BS 8878 was superseded by ISO 30071-1,[80] the international Standard that built on BS 8878 and expanded it for international use.

Another useful idea is for websites to include a web accessibility statement on the site. Initially introduced in PAS 78,[81] the best practice for web accessibility statements has been updated in BS 8878[82] to emphasise the inclusion of: information on how disabled and elderly people could get a better experience of using the website by using assistive technologies or accessibility settings of browsers and operating systems (linking to "BBC My Web My Way"[83] can be useful here); information on what accessibility features the site's creators have included, and if there are any user needs which the site doesn't currently support (for example, descriptive video to allow blind people to access the information in videos more easily); and contact details for disabled people to be able to use to let the site creators know if they have any problems in using the site. While validations against WCAG, and other accessibility badges can also be included, they should be put lower down the statement, as most disabled people still do not understand these technical terms.[84]

It is important to ensure that the accessibility in education includes assessments. "Accessibility must be considered from the outset when designing assessments, otherwise disabled learners could be unintentionally disadvantaged."[86] Accessibility in testing or assessments entails the extent to which a test and its constituent item set eliminates barriers and permits the test-taker to demonstrate his or her knowledge of the tested content.[87]

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 in the United States,[88] student accountability in essential content areas such as reading, mathematics, and science has become a major area of focus in educational reform.[89] As a result, test developers have needed to create tests to ensure all students, including those with special needs (e.g., students identified with disabilities), are given the opportunity to demonstrate the extent to which they have mastered the content measured on state assessments. Currently, states are permitted to develop two different types of tests in addition to the standard grade-level assessments to target students with special needs. First, the alternate assessment may be used to report proficiency for up to 1% of students in a state. Second, new regulations permit the use of alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards to report proficiency for up to 2% of students in a state.

To ensure these new tests generate results that permit valid inferences about student performance, they must be accessible to as many individuals as possible. The Test Accessibility and Modification Inventory (TAMI)[90] and its companion evaluation tool, the Accessibility Rating Matrix (ARM), were designed to facilitate the evaluation of tests and test items with a focus on enhancing their accessibility. Both instruments integrate principles of accessibility theory and were guided by research on universal design, assessment accessibility, cognitive load theory, and research on item-writing and test development. The TAMI is a non-commercial instrument that has been made available to all state assessment directors and testing companies. Assessment researchers have used the ARM to conduct accessibility reviews of state assessment items for several state departments of education.