Accessibility evaluation
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Universal design persists as the creating an environment which design and surrounding that makes it comfortably accessible comprehended and utilized by broad population regardless of their disability or ability, gender, size age or place of origin (Hums et al., 2016). Equally, universal design involves creating an environment that suits use by all people conveniently and effectively without the requirement of modification, adaptation, or addition of some objects or devices for use by different populations.
Ed Roberts was an American activist as well as the first student in the united states to depend on the wheelchair during his university education at the University of California. Later, he became the leader and as a pioneer of the disability rights movement (Ed Roberts Campus, 2019). Roberts viewed independent living as the most significant factor for the community more so those who possess different disabilities hence known as the “father of independent living.” On the same note, Roberts believed in increasing the facilities of vocational rehabilitation as well as creating the universal design for independent living, which could accommodate every individual from society.
Ed Roberts Campus offers equally accessible to all groups of people in the community. The Ed Roberts Campus comprises the universal design with simplifies the life of every person in the community. According to Ed Roberts Campus (2019), the campus gets accessed by people with different types of visual impairment, including blind and partial vision individuals. On the same note, Ed Roberts Campus accommodates people with varying disabilities of hearing ranging from mild to profound types (Ed Roberts Campus, 2019). Such groups access the campus effectively and efficiently based on its universal design. As per Ed Roberts Campus (2019), different people with diverse physical disabilities such as lower and upper limbs access the campus in which they use various means of movements enhanced by the environments of the campus. Notably, the spinal cord disability individuals get accommodated by the campus.
The Ed Roberts Campus possesses various facilities that enable accessibility by different people in society. For instance, the restrooms and helical ramps upwards accommodate all people, including those with varying forms of disabilities (Ed Roberts Campus, 2019). Furthermore, the campus offers accessibility by the blind people or individuals with visual impairments by possessing specifically designed ways and signage (Ed Roberts Campus, 2019). On the same note, the transits users find the campus more comfortable and accessible as well as safe. The Ed Roberts Campus contains adequate lighting system, landscaping, signage, and crosswalks that ensure easy accessibility and safety of individuals with diverse disabilities that use equipment like wheelchairs and other pedestrians (Hums et al., 2016). Nevertheless, the building creates friendly surroundings for the wheelchair users by offering wide corridors, automatic doors as well as available elevators hence easy movements within the campus building. Ed Roberts Campus (2019) posits that the campus further possesses some of the hand free sensors together with timers that ensure effective and efficient control of lighting and security system. Moreover, the campus building holds a natural ventilation system that provides quality natural air (Ed Roberts Campus, 2019). The design further uses natural light, which enhances visibility for people with visual impairments.
Most of the disabled individuals face various obstacles while accessing different facilities and services with society. Some of the barriers could result from the natural environment or human-made structures such as building elevators, staircases, building entrances, as well as public transport systems (Lindsay, 2018). Personally, individuals who possess physical impairment encounter barriers in the public transport system. The designs of most vehicles used in transport act as barriers to disabled people hence facing challenges in boarding and alighting (CDC, 2019). On the same note, natural barriers occur in the environment, which hinders the movement of people with disabilities using different types of equipment such as a wheelchair. Such restrictions include uneven grounds and pot halls (Lindsay, 2018). Equally, the human-made structure holds various challenges to disabled individuals. Such barriers comprise staircases, narrow pavements, and relatively smaller elevators. According to the CDC (2019), people who possess visual and hearing faces various communication barriers. Most of the features of the obstacles to disabled individuals occur as initial designs such as staircases, public transport systems, and uneven grounds. At the same time, the current human-made include the communication barrier as well as narrow pavements (CDC, 2019). Communication barrier encountered by people with disability results from challenging in holding a conversation with others due to problems in comprehension, hearing, reading as speaking.
Based on the picture above, the place poses some difficulties for access by disabled individuals using different types of wheelchairs. The wheelchair requires even and flat surfaces for its effective use by the physically impaired individuals. Such physical barriers hinder the mobility of impaired people into various buildings. In this case, the building lacks the universal design, which could offer alternative means of entering the building more convenient despite different physical impairments.
Most of the physically disabled individuals with lower limb impairment use different types of wheelchairs in their movements. As witnessed in the above picture, the building offers an alternative way of entering by use of a wheelchair hence having stairs and ramps. The building further contains grab bars for the support of walking along the staircases and ramps, which enhances the accessibility of the building with a population of different disabled people. Furthermore, the ramps possess a smooth surface and even which increases accessibility by the wheelchairs without difficulties.
References
CDC. (2019). Disability and Health Disability Barriers | CDC. Retrieved 26 March 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/disability-barriers.html
Ed Roberts Campus. (2019). Universal Design Ed Roberts Campus. Retrieved 26 March 2020, from https://www.edrobertscampus.org/design/
Lindsay, S. (2018). Accessible and inclusive transportation for youth with disabilities: exploring innovative solutions. Disability and rehabilitation, 1-10.
Hums, M. A., Schmidt, S. H., Novak, A., & Wolff, E. A. (2016). Universal design: Moving the Americans with Disabilities Act from access to inclusion. J. Legal Aspects Sport, 26, 36.