Many barriers that people with disabilities face are physical or architectural barriers. Physical barriers happen when features of buildings or spaces limit people’s access. For instance, some physical disability barriers are:
- Steps without ramps, elevators, or lifts
- Lack of automatic or push-button doors
- Low lighting or weak colour contrast
- Narrow sidewalks, doorways, or aisles
- High shelves
- Tables without knee and toe clearance
- No accessible Line areas, waiting areas, or service counters
- Lack of accessible Parking or washrooms
Physical Barriers
These and other physical barriers limit life for people with different disabilities. For example, stairs without ramps or elevators deny access to people using wheelchairs. Likewise, stairs may also limit the access of people with invisible physical disabilities. For instance:
- Arthritis
- Difficulties with balance, energy level, or pain level
- Heart or lung conditions
Furthermore, low lighting makes it hard for people who are deaf to communicate visually. Similarly, low lighting also limits access for people who are visually impaired.
Barrier Removal Helps Everyone
Therefore, organizations that can remove or prevent physical barriers become more welcoming to people with and without disabilities. For instance, stair-free access, wide paths, and automatic doors, are often useful to:
- Families with small children
- Parents with strollers
- Shoppers with bags or carts
- Travellers with luggage
In other words, many people find barrier-free spaces helpful. However, for people with disabilities, removing barriers is not only a help, but a need. Therefore, organizations should prevent or remove barriers whenever they can. For example, organizations can have:
- Accessible sidewalks and parking
- Ramped or level building entrances
- Automatic doors and wide doorways
- Good lighting and colour contrast
- Elevators or lifts
- Accessible washrooms
- Wide aisles and hallways
- Accessible line areas, waiting areas, and service counters
Our next article will consider how organizations can implement these and other solutions for physical barriers.