Outdoor Accessibility Guidance is a good practice guide showing how to make the outdoors accessible for everyone, regardless of age, disability and circumstance.
Outdoor Accessibility Guidance is designed as a UK benchmark reference for making outdoor places and spaces, routes and facilities more accessible, and outdoor experiences more inclusive, so they can be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of age and ability.
It is a practical reference with techniques, tools, design details and examples of good practice to help people meet, and where possible exceed, their legislative duties under the Equality Act 2010.
The guide is written for anyone managing land for public access and recreation, including land managers, community trusts, community groups and volunteers, access and recreation teams and owners. It will also assist anyone involved in designing outdoor spaces, planning outdoor activities and creating communication materials.
Sensory Trust was commissioned by Paths for All, now Walking Scotland, to write and design the guidance in 2023. It updates and expands ‘Countryside for All’, which provided a benchmark reference for improving access to the countryside across the UK since it was published in 1997.
Outdoor Accessibility Guidance provides practical information and examples on the following
By All Reasonable Means guide, written by Sensory Trust for Natural England and Natural Resources Wales, aligns with the Outdoor Accessibility Guidance and is useful for anyone working in England and Wales.
Walking Scotland produces a comprehensive collection of useful guidance for anyone working in Scotland.
Sensory Trust's Access Chain is a tool that addresses access as a chain of events that starts from a person’s decision to visit a site or route, through the journey, arrival and time spent there. It ends with the journey home. If any link in the chain is broken then the visit may be disappointing or never happen.
The principles of equality of experience underpin the guidance, emphasising how accessibility must always be considered together with the quality of the experience on offer.
"An inclusive approach doesn’t mean the same experience for everyone, but the combination of individual experiences adding up to something equally great for everyone."
Good access is key to ensuring everyone has the opportunity to connect with nature and the outdoors.
Why access to nature based experiences should be available to everyone
Sensory Trust delivers training to help develop skills in accessibility and sensory design. We can tailor our training to best suit your needs.
A Sensory Trust audit helps ensure your venue welcomes people of all ages and disabilities.