What comes to mind when you think about disability? A person using a wheelchair or mobility device? An accessible parking spot? A ramp? Often, it’s visible disability, and the practical physical requirements that come with it, that people think of. While practical physical considerations are essential, with 5.5 million Australians living with disability (21.4 per cent of the population!) it’s important to note that disability is so much more than what is visible.
Access and Inclusion, particularly when it comes to physical spaces, means considering how a person with disability experiences the environment, beyond the provision of a ramp or accessible parking. It means considering how a person moves through and engages with the space – does the experience of a person with disability mirror that of a person without disability? Or are you asking people with disability to access your building in a way that is less than dignified?
As a person with a visible disability, and a non-visible chronic health condition, my experience of accessing shops, signing in as a visitor to office buildings and external sites, and moving through public spaces, is impacted by the physical environment and the people that I interact with – receptionists, sales team members, staff at the café.
The difference between a positive experience, and one that leaves me feeling less than, is the freedom to access the space independently and the capacity of staff to treat me equitably (e.g., by proactively offering adjustments) without making me feel uncomfortable (please don’t ask me about my disability).
The Building Code of Australia (BCA) sets out compliance requirements to provide safe, equitable access to buildings, facilities, and services for people with disability. The focus of the BCA is on the construction of new buildings or new additions/upgrades to an existing building. For fitouts and the ongoing use of a physical site, we have the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) that protects the rights of people with disability.
Here at Australian Disability Network though, we speak to Dignified Access and Designing for Dignity. Dignified Access goes beyond compliance, beyond building codes and standards, to create and foster environments that are fully accessible and inclusive, and genuinely welcoming of everyone, including people with disability.
Dignified Access considers:
- the path of travel to get to your building
- disability confidence of your front-of-house/reception/security teams
- wayfinding, signage and guidance
- entrance and the reception area
- lifts
- floor surface and finishes
- sensory experiences
- doors
- steps and stairways
- office spaces
- meeting rooms and collaboration spaces
- workstations
- storage and utilities
- accessible toilets
- kitchens and shared dining/breakout spaces
- evacuation and emergencies.
You can see that this list considers both the design and use of spaces. It goes beyond the physical to include consideration of the sensory experience and the training of your team to support people with disability with adjustments where required.
While it is easier to build Access and Inclusion in at the design stage than try to retrofit it, it is possible to make changes that will benefit your teams and your customers post-construction. Australian Disability Network can support you with a Dignified Access Review to identify current good practice and opportunities. If you don’t own your building, the review can also provide practical examples to support you in advocating for a dignified customer and employee experience with your building owner.
When we design spaces – brand new or internal fitouts – with universal or inclusive design baked into the foundations, and in consultation with people with disability, we design for everybody.
Emma Henningsen is the Chief Experience Officer (CXO) and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at Australian Disability Network. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the Not-For-Profit sector – from direct practice to strategic management – in the disability, housing and homelessness, and broader community services.
Emma’s career path has shown her that there can be no real change for the individual without first breaking down the systemic barriers that impact their situation. As a woman with disability, Emma is passionate about disability representation and seeing her community thrive.
DCA resources
- Disability & Accessibility resource page
- Event recording: Is your workplace inclusive of non-apparent disabilities?
- Disability Data at Work (produced in partnership with Australian Disability Network)
- Building a culture of accessibility at (and with) Microsoft
- Event recording: Increasing Pathways and Opportunities for People with Disability in the Workforce
Additional resources
- Australian Disability Network website
- Designing an accessible workplace, Australian Disability Network
- Getting Workplace Adjustments out of the “too hard basket”, Australian Disability Network
- What we mean when we talk about accessibility, UK Government blog
- Understanding Accessibility, Centre for Accessibility Australia
- Helpful resources for business, Vision Australia
- Making sure your workplace is accessible, Job Access