Complying with the Disability Discrimination Act: the strategic approach to auditing
With building owners coming to terms with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act, a strategic approach can reduce the need for physical alterations to the building, argues Su Peace.
The Disability Discrimination act requires that disabled people are no longer discriminated against in their areas of employment and their access to services. In 2004 it will be necessary to remove physical barriers which prevent disabled people from using a service. Many service providers are now beginning to plan for this change.
The task in some instances, especially where there is a large site or building, can seem daunting and expensive. Many service providers are also taking the route of auditing all of their buildings. This could be a long and expensive process resulting in a list of physical adaptations, which may take years to complete and cause disruption to services. However, this may not be the answer, many opportunities can be taken to reduce the costs of this change by understanding what is really being required by the Act.
The philosophy of the Act is that disabled people should be able to use the service provided within a building. It does not suggest that the whole of the building should be made accessible. Changes to give access to the service should be reasonable and achievable. It states that the service can be provided either in a different manner, on a different site, by use of new technology, or by the removal of the physical barrier.
Although it is likely that there will always be a need to make physical alterations to the building, by understanding what is really required by the act the amount of physical alterations necessary can be reduced utilising a strategic approach to the changes.
This strategic approach can be achieved taking an initial look at the service. An audit should be undertaken to establish how and where a service is provided. It may be possible to reduce that amount of physical adaptation by moving the service or by providing it in a different manner. Telephone and internet banking is a good example of how a service can be provided in a different way to make it accessible.
Once the service has been audited then the policies, practice and procedure can be amended to provide as much access as possible within the existing environment. At this point it is possible to see where the short fall in access to the service is. For instance the number and types of accessible rooms required. It may be possible to swap rooms or provide a flexible use ground floor room. Once the ability to use the accessible parts of the building most efficiently has been established target areas of the building can be audited and a manageable plan of adaptations recommended.
There are also many opportunities to improve access to the building within existing building maintenance budgets. Having a policy which takes advantage of this again reduces the financial burden. An example of this would be a policy stating the colour scheme to be used, taking advantage of colour contrasting to help visually impaired people use the building.
Strategies can be put in place such as a sound enhancement strategy/ services to provide the most appropriate cost effective methods for hard of hearing people and deaf people. Also new technology should not be over looked, when considering how to meet the requirements of the Act.
In conclusion a strategic approach to the changes required can lead to major savings and better quality provision of service for disabled people.
Su Peace, access consultant with Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, is a member of the Legislation Working Party of the Access Committee for England 0113 204 2200.
Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers established in 1976 offering civil and structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, quantity surveying, building services and environmental engineering, infrastructure and traffic engineering, geotechnical engineering, façade engineering, fire engineering, Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis, access consultancy, project management, urban design and a range of specialist CAD services.
