Indoor accessibility concerns spatial and structural aspects of a venue.
In this part, we focus on requirements for accessible entrance areas, welcome and ticketing desks,
seating or standing areas and sanitary facilities but also on orientating within the venue.
Do you remember the FFZ principle for navigation outside?
Free passage, flat surface and zero barriers.
Well, in fact this is also applicable to indoor space.
Only the architectural elements and solutions are different.
For example, we use more doors and stairs inside a building
and we have to use our hands more to grab handles.
In addition, handrails and level differences are often bigger compared to navigation outside.
The entrance to the venue should be clearly visible, have a flat surface without level differences.
It should be wide enough so that a group of people could easily pass.
The route to the main entrance should seamlessly lead to the entrance door.
Here you can see a blind person accompanied by an assistant
finding her way to the main entrance of the building.
It is not easy for her to enter the building.
There is construction work. The ramp seems to be a barrier too.
She uses her white cane to move around obstacles, but sometimes these obstacles are hard to identify.
The best place for a welcome and ticketing desk is opposite the entrance door.
A welcome desk should allow a visitor to contact a person from a higher or a lower piece.
In this way, it is easy for everyone to pay for or pick up their tickets.
This principle of two heights also applies to desks of manned cloakrooms.
If you do not have a manned cloakroom, you might provide cloak hooks located at different heights.
This also encourages children to hang up their own coats.
Not every venue has the same structure.
One major difference is the type of stage and auditorium:
either the auditorium is on the same level as the entrance
or you have to enter it downstairs or even in between.
Therefore, when moving to our seat, for almost every scene, we have to overcome different levels.
The best option would be to offer both stairs and elevators.
They should be located next to each other, so that people can take the same route.
The dimensions of sloped hallways, stairs and elevators
should always allow bigger groups to use them at the same time.
For safe navigation inside, light is important.
It can be also used to warn people in case of insecure situations.
Flights of stairs should be straight, easy to take, have a closed tread and handrails on both sides.
Especially for visually impaired people handrails are crucial.
Elevators should be spacious enough for a wheelchair user and accompanying person.
They take up the same space as a parent with a children's pushchair.
Elevator buttons should be tactile buttons so that blind people can find and use them easily.
Inside the elevator, there might be a sound that indicates a stop or a "bing" when the door opens.
In addition, there should be not only audible, but also visual cues.
Doors should be easy to identify as such.
They should be wide enough, easy to use, equipped with good handgrips and should not be too heavy to open.
Especially the main entrance doors or doors to a balcony should be easy to find.
Cultural events, and especially scenic arts are performed on stages.
The audience should clearly see and hear what happens on stage.
Therefore, buildings should allow for enough height for a theatre or tribune.
This means that in the majority of venues we have to go upstairs or downstairs
to take seats or find our places to stand.
Those routes might be badly lit and therefore a bit dangerous.
Colours or different materials can help us see where to walk and where to sit.
Here, the blind person is looking for her seat.
It is not easy for her to orientate herself at the stairs.
Once seated, she realises that it is the right one,
but in many cases she cannot be sure that she found the right seat.
Seats should be suitable and comfortable for all.
Wheelchair users can use seat-free zones that allow for enough space to move.
Wheelchair users should be seated next to the accompanying person or between rows,
but should not block the aisle.
Some theatres offer, for example, a balcony or a platform,
whilst others use removable seats to adapt the space to every play.
Sanitary facilities should be located in central and logical areas on a venue.
For example, in the entrance hall or on the main floor of a building.
It would be convenient to have them nearby when you enter or leave the venue.
Most facilities offer separate restrooms for women and men.
In between there might be a toilet adapted to or accessible for wheelchair users.
But there might be some doors to come through before reaching this toilet.
Here, each door is an extra effort.
Therefore, it is better to locate toilets directly next to a hall or along the corridor.
In fact, accessible toilets are not reserved rooms in contrast to reserved parking spaces.
An accessible toilet is a bigger room that has some extra features
such as grab bars and toilets and basins that are easy to use.
Universal design thinking in the area of facilities also includes an offer for families and children,
such as a nursery for small children or a breast-feeding room.
If possible, they should always be separate rooms.
Pilar OreroTitular de universidad
Sharon BlackResearch Fellow and Tutor in Translation and Interpreting
Anna MatamalaProfesora
