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Inclusive design: the impossible dream?

‘Access for all’ is the mantra; but what does it mean in practice, and is it actually achievable?

John Dales
25 March 2011
A wheelchair user; a woman with a buggy; and some seemingly able-bodied pedestrians. And what about the many different people in those vehicles? Are all their needs equally met here?
A wheelchair user; a woman with a buggy; and some seemingly able-bodied pedestrians. And what about the many different people in those vehicles? Are all their needs equally met here?
A flush kerb and corduroy tactiles with no colour contrast: how is that if you are blind or partially sighted?
A flush kerb and corduroy tactiles with no colour contrast: how is that if you are blind or partially sighted?
But then this old boy would just love it if there was no kerb here. Do his needs conflict with others?
But then this old boy would just love it if there was no kerb here. Do his needs conflict with others?

 

Let's get this straight at the outset: seeking to make our streets, spaces and other transport systems fully and easily accessible for all members of the public is truly righteous (what my dictionary defines as “in accordance with virtue or morality”). The problem we have, but struggle to accept, is not that the objective is inappropriate or unnecessary, but that it simply isn’t possible.

There: I’ve said it. But then, let’s face it, you’ve thought it; and I...

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John Dales

John Dales

John Dales MSC BSC MCIHT CMILT Director, Urban Mov

John Dales is a streets design adviser to local authorities around the UK, a member of several design review panels, and one of the London mayor’s design advocates. He is a past chair of the Transport Planning Society, a former trustee of Living Streets, and a committee member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety. He is director of transport planning and street design consultancy Urban Movement. 

 

j.dales@urbanmovement.co.uk
+44 (0)7768 377 150
www.johndales.com

 

 
 
 

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