The European Concept For Accessibility 2003

1.6 Why Accessibility?

Built environments should enable all individuals to develop as persons. Thus, their design has to take into account the diversity of the population and the need which we all have to be independent.

Built environments, including each of their elements and components, should be designed according to the European concept for accessibility, understood as the provision of the environment with those characteristics which enable everybody to access the different opportunities available: i.e., culture, space, buildings, communications, services, economy, participation, etc.

Thus, an accessible environment has to be:

1. Respectful: it should respect the diversity of users. Nobody should feel marginalized and everybody should be able to get to it.

2. Safe: it should be free of risks to all users. Therefore, all those elements which form part of an environment have to be designed with safety in mind (slippery floors, parts jutting out, dimensions, etc.).

3. Healthy: it should not constitute a health risk or cause problems to those who suffer from certain illnesses or allergies.

4. Functional: it should be designed in such a way that it can carry out the function for which it was intended without any problems or difficulties.

5. Comprehensible: all users should be able to orient themselves within a given space without difficulty and therefore the following are essential:

6. Aesthetic: the result should be aesthetically pleasing as this will make it more likely to be accepted by everybody (the previous six points always being borne in mind).