Coming Soon: Two New Guides to Improve Outdoor Access

by Jane Stoneham & Lars Stenberg

These have been a long time in the making, but after much drafting, reviewing and editing, these two new guides are now at the printers. Huge thanks to all the people, too numerous to list, but who have helped with the site visits, sharing experiences of access barriers and commenting on drafts.

Here's a brief overview of the publications. They are both due out early next month and will be available free from English Heritage and Countryside Agency – revisit our website for news.

Access to Historic Landscapes (published by English Heritage)

A guide to help historic property owners and managers improve the accessibility of their historic parks, gardens and landscapes.

We were commissioned to write this new guide for English Heritage and Heritage Lottery Fund, with the National Trust. It has been produced as a companion to English Heritage’s Easy Access to Buildings. Historic landscapes often have similar issues as buildings but there are many clear differences, and this guide looks specifically at the outdoor landscape.

Historic environments can be difficult for disabled visitors to access (they were not often designed to be accessible in the first place). A major issue historic landscape teams need to consider when making changes is the balance to be struck between increasing use and preserving what is historically significant and necessary.

The guide identifies the barriers that typically limit or prevent disabled people from accessing or enjoying these landscapes and highlights potential solutions. A wide range of examples are used from historic sites throughout the UK, and from the feedback from site managers and disability organisations and individuals. The book demonstrates that improving access is good for everyone and can bring new audiences to your site.

Barriers for disabled people are not just physical. Badly planned Information, interpretation, education, volunteer programmes and events can also exclude people. The point is that all visitors should able to use and enjoy the fullest range of experiences on site.

The guide also shows the wider impact of poor access. For example, in a recent national survey of disabled people, one third said their friends and families would look for alternative services if accessibility was poor (NOP World survey, reported on Disability Rights Commission website at www.drc.org.uk).

By All Reasonable Means (published by Countryside Agency)

A guide to help countryside and urban greenspace managers and owners improve accessibility of their sites, routes and facilities for visitors.

We were commissioned by the Countryside Agency to develop this new national publication. The guide has been reviewed by countryside managers and disability organisations before going to print and is due for release in October.

The guide highlights the importance of balancing access with the conservation of natural heritage and landscape character. Many visitors want to preserve the special qualities of a place and sometimes this can limit the amount of access improvements that can be made.

With that in mind By All Reasonable Means provides a realistic, practical and effective approach to access improvements. It looks at accessibility in its broadest sense, including people with physical, sensory or intellectual impairments. Highlights include how to make routes, sites and facilities more accessible and how to improve the experience at physically accessible sites. It contains advice on how to assess an existing site for access provision, how to plan and carry out access improvements.

Underpinning the guide is a philosophy we strongly advocate and that is bedding in inclusive policy and practice so that it becomes an automatic part of an organisation’s approach to design and management. Access improvements can be based on assumptions of the needs of disabled people and also product-driven. However, as with many aspects of design, accessibility is as much to do with the process as with the end product. Involving disabled people at all stages of the process, from initial planning through practical implementation and subsequent evaluation is imperative.

By All Reasonable Means is based on Least Restrictive Access, an approach that aims for the highest standards possible for a particular piece of work. As there are currently no statutory standards for outdoor access improvements, the guide outlines a framework which enables owners and managers to choose standards and techniques that are appropriate to their site.

It also uses the Sensory Trust Access Chain.

A Sense of Peace in a Parisian Cemetery | Index | The Sensory Trust Access Chain