Architecture can reduce barriers or create them. A properly designed environment helps a person move around independently, find their way, use services and act during emergencies.
What needs to be assessed
- Approach to the site: pavements, lowered kerbs, crossings, parking, lighting, surfaces and obstacles.
- Entrance: thresholds, doors, vestibules, canopies, slopes, handrails and sufficient space for manoeuvring.
- Vertical connections: lifts, platform lifts, stairs, wayfinding and alternative routes.
- Internal accessibility: width of passages, accessibility of lecture rooms, offices, sanitary facilities and waiting areas.
- Information and orientation: visual, tactile and audible tools where needed.
- Evacuation and safety: accessible alerts, assistance procedures, realistic action plans and staff responsibility.
A special challenge — university campuses
Complex grounds, buildings from different years, flights of steps, historic solutions and mixed learning formats require phased modernisation. The assessment must cover the link between the street, the entrance, the lecture room, the toilet, the shelter and the exit, and not end at the ramp.
Reconstruction and new construction
Universal design is most effective when taken into account already in the technical specification. During reconstruction, it is important to seek safe and justified solutions within real technical constraints, document deviations and not replace regulatory requirements with formal measures.
The working group’s approach
Possible areas for expert discussion: analysis of the user’s pathway, identification of critical barriers, prioritisation of improvements, methodological recommendations for property owners, and drawing on the experience of people with disabilities. Formal expert reviews, state supervision and certification are carried out exclusively by authorised bodies within their competence.