Other countries

[ICE]

I wonder how is ADA treated in other developed countries? Since ADA provisions benefit the elderly, do countries that treat the old with reverence do a better job with ADA? How about the two largest populations which also have the largest percentage of disabled?

 

[RLGA]

Since the ADA is the Americans with Disabilities Act, I doubt they consider it at all. However, in regards to accessibility, many countries have similar requirements. Accessibility is not just a physical issue, but also a cultural issue; so what we may consider a nonissue in terms of accessibility, another country may treat it with great consideration and vice versa.

I can't offer any specific examples or countries, but I've been informed that Japan has a very progressive accessibility program.

 

[tmurray]

In Canada, we have similar requirements, but they apply to new construction only. Renovations must be made as accessible as possible and building officials must be reasonable in discussing what is financially feasible to make an existing building more accessible. The requirements are built into the code, so I review it as part of the plan review process and stem off a lot of problems at that stage and inspect it at the final inspection stage.

Personally, the portion of the ADA that don't sit well with me is that it applies to existing construction. I don't think that is fair. If someone is already doing work then they should be trying to make their building as accessible as possible, but you shouldn't be allowed to force someone to undertake renovations when they have made no changes to their building since the act was put into place. People who can't or find it difficult to access a building will vote with their wallets, and these businesses will either make changes or lose out on sales. Government buildings, I think we can all agree, should be made accessible to all people. But all of this is just my opinion, and since I'm not even an American it is completely worthless.

I think this is what all the arguments on this section of the forum center around. One group of people who think "It is so it has to be done" and another who think "The law isn't fair". Who is right? I think they both are.

 

[Codegeek]

In my travels throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand, I have yet to see a country to provides as much accessibility as we do here in the US. The Scandavian countries come close, but not very. Some countries view those with disabilities as outcasts and therefore treat them as such.

 

[JPohling]

I can tell you I would not want to be a wheeler in Mexico!!

 

[jeffc]

I recently returned from France and Germany. The best attempt at barrier free access I saw was in Germany at the airport. They added a separate barrier free unisex bathroom next to the normal bathrooms. It quickly went down from there. Many of the restaurants had bathrooms in the basement or very small rooms with no maneuvering clearance. I saw a few ramps and barrier free parking stalls but that was more the exception. On a different note, I was very surprised on how few large apartments and hotels had fire sprinklers, fire doors, smoke seals, fire alarms…

 

[mark handler]

United Kingdom

Introduction to the Disability Discrimination Act and Equality Act

http://www.building.co.uk/cpd-4-accessible-buildings-and-the-equality-act/5050478.article

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was passed into law in 1995. The act made it unlawful in the UK to discriminate against disabled employees and for service providers to treat disabled people less favourably. In October 2004, the legislation was toughened to state that service providers must make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their premises to allow disabled access to the service. Under the DDA, service providers include anyone who provides a service to the public or a section of the public.

In 2010, the DDA was incorporated into the Equality Act, which covers services in the commercial, retail, financial, residential, education, healthcare and transport sectors. Breach of the law can result in unlimited fines.

As the Equality Act relates to access to services rather than to premises, buildings and products cannot be “Equality Act compliant”. Instead, they must comply with Building Regulations and British and European standards. The key Building Regulation in England and Wales is Part M: Access to and use of buildings. (This is Part R in Northern Ireland and Section 3 in Scotland.) The key standard is BS 8300:2009+A1:2010 “Design of buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people. Code of practice”. This module will look at how different types of door can comply with this key guidance, allowing service providers to meet their obligations under the Equality Act.

 

[mark handler]

United Nations http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/designm/intro.htm