Presentation of the "European Manual for an Accessible Built Environment"
Roy van Hek, ISG/CCPT, Netherlands
I am Secretary General of the Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of
Accessibility, a government agency. This organization provides a platform
for all institutes, organizations and other bodies in the Netherlands working
in the field of accessibility. The members of the committee are representatives
of the majority of the ministries and the umbrella organizations of disabled
people. The committee is financed by the Dutch government.
Today I am presenting the first draft of the European Manual for an accessible
built environment, and the launch of an initiative which we hope will go
on for some considerable time before the final manual is produced. The manual
was presented during the International Conference on Technology and Accessibility
which was held in the Netherlands in November 1990. It is only one of the
tools to achieve a society for all. The question is whether the European
Manual can be the basis for an accessible built environment for all.
In May 1985 the Bureau for Action in Favour of Disabled People, which was
part of the European Commission, asked the Dutch Council of the Handicapped
to carry out a study which would take stock of the accessibility of public
buildings in the EC member states. It described the situation, both in memberstates
legislation and in practice, similarities and differences between the twelve
countries.
One of the recommendations was that a greater degree of consensus, and a
common approach, should be achieved within the EC on the universal aspects
of access. A prime requirement for making sure that access is fostered in
a systematic and purposeful way is to have an agreed policy, formulated
on the same lines in all member states, which can be achieved if it is put
into practice.
The basis for this is to develop a European Access handbook. First, however,
there has to be much consultation in Europe before there can be any talk
of standardizing minimum dimensions and establishing needs and wants. The
problem of choosing between a bottom line, or a progressive upper limit,
for certain critical measurements can be dealt with by establishing a margin
which is bigger than the smallest measurements and yet smaller than, or
the same size as the largest. In this way, no country is confronted with
impossible problems in changing all its standards and no country has to
call into question standards that other countries have already agreed. We
hope that in this way standardization will gradually become a fact. Then,
if somebody talks about access, we know we speak about the same level of
access.
This 1985 study had the status of a discussion paper and was the main document
at an EC seminar "Access to Public Buildings and Facilities",
also organized by the Dutch Council of the Disabled in Utrecht in 1987.
The principal recommendation from this conference was that it was necessary
to draw up a European document on access based on the existing rules and
existing research in the various memberstates. This could provide a significant
impetus for the standardization or harmonization of the rules and regulations
on access. This statement was followed by the observation that: "the
period of issuing recommendations is over. It is now time to draw up binding
regulations". It was after this seminar that the EC applied to my committee
for realizing the recommendations put forward at Utrecht. There will be
many more discussions and consultations before we reach this point. Every
time, the same question came up: "do we need new legislation on access
or do we have to change the attitudes of architects and developers?"
We came to the conclusion that new attitudes towards accessibility are needed.
Since conditions for accessibility are created on the drawing board, the
planning discipline has to be considered as well. Therefore we recognized
two important questions:
Who is responsible for accessibility in the built environment?
What has happened to the idea of accessibility?
The kind of provision that an architect will make depends on the architect's
concept of the user of the built environment. Over the centuries architects
and builders have tended to think in terms of an "average building
user", who is usually assumed to be a man in the prime of life. However,
in reality, there is no such thing as an average building user, and therefore
this cannot be the basis for plans. By using the wrong starting points,
the architect loses sight of the basic objective. Can they be blamed for
this? The answer has to be yes! It is not the "averages" but the
"differences" between people and their needs that are self-evident;
once those are considered, the need for accessibility for everyone becomes
self-evident as well.
This integral planning or macro approach on the basis of the extended scope
is the central principle of the European Manual, which can be seen as a
first manifesto for integral accessibility.
"Integral accessibility" means planning and constructing the built
environment in such a way that everybody can use it as independently and
naturally as possible. Three terms were central to this definition: everybody;
independently; and naturally. These terms have an emotional significance,
and their definition cannot therefore be used as a strict standard; they
require sympathy with the concept of integral accessibility. Architects
must rethink their own discipline radically, whether or not they accept
the challenge depends not only upon their attitude but upon publicity and
the planning process, tools and legislation. The European manual is such
a tool, and is therefore needed. Current national manuals on accessibility
are not always adequate and do not seem to reach or be used by architects.
To be fair, the many handbooks on the theme of designing exclusively for
disabled persons have missed the point of integral access or "macro
world"; no one builds environments just for disabled people. However,
these books, written from years of experience, have made an enormous contribution
to the increase in consciousness regarding accessibility and are indispensable
sources of information. Without them, there would have been no European
Manual. But all of us who worked on the manual have been working on a new
approach: that access should be normal integrated quality for all, a society
designed for all citizens, without any discrimination.
The first edition of the manual, issued in November 1990 is the beginning
of a process of change. This manual did not offer ready-made solutions.
It is also the beginning of a discussion using the same definitions. So
this edition will be carefully checked and corrected by all current readers.
We have a product now and we have to renew it in cooperation with the readers
and the organizations of disabled persons.
The Manual has been divided into Parts A and B. Part A outlines basic considerations
and lays out dimensional principles; in other words the starting points
for access, while Part B examines the consequence of these design principles.
It focuses on facilities for accessibility in public transport, the outdoor
environment, the indoor layout, specific areas such as WCs and interior
designs and lists a number of considerations and recommendations. The layout
of the manual is such that a reader can trace both the existing environment
and the new one by taking an imaginary walk through the building or facility.
Drawings can be adapted accordingly.
In part A, for example, there is a description of the activities in the
built environment as part of the basic considerations. It is an imaginary
journey where everybody can use public transport, approach buildings, move
around in buildings, use specific areas and interior furnishings. Now it
is possible to show all the barriers that may be encountered.
In part A some examples of dimensional principles are provided, in this
case for moving around. Further on there is an explanation of the principle
of "extended scope"; considering all the kinds of potential users
of buildings and their needs rather than assuming that it is possible to
design for an "average user".
Part B covers the same ground, specifying the considerations and recommendations
for each part of the built environment. The following three pages of the
manual show signs, circulation in buildings, and indoor layout.
This document is a "European document", but it could be the foundation
for national documents on accessibility or the basis for training courses.
We are now negotiating with other countries such as Spain, the Netherlands,
Japan, Austria, Hungary and the Soviet Union for making a national manual
based on the European Manual. Part A, the starting point for accessibility,
would be the same in every translated edition. Part B can give solutions
and examples depending on the national standards and national legislation,
cultural background and so on.
In conclusion, my committee thinks we have a long way to go, but there are
great opportunities ahead. There is a concept of a universal foundation
for access ideas; there might be a role for positive publicity and the awareness
that legislation is necessary. But good accessible plans do not come about
because of enforced situations, and the integral macro aspect of accessibility
cannot be captured by isolated pieces of legislation. Legislation should
be a catalyst. Only if integral accessibility originates with the architect
and all the decision makers and is automatically taken into consideration
then the problem can be solved in the near future.
