Entering Accessibility
By: Nicole Glenn, PhD, Senior Research Associate, Centre for Healthy Communities
September 30, 2020
In 2018 we performed a small pilot study to understand the accessibility of entranceways along a popular shopping street in Edmonton, Whyte Ave. We compared the doorway width, force required to open, threshold height, and handle hardware to provincial accessibility standards – these are building codes that ensure places are safe and easy to access. What we saw was that many doors couldn’t be opened easily or automatically, entrances were too narrow, and they posed a tripping risk. In fact, only four percent of the doorways along the ten blocks of Whyte Ave met all four of the accessibility criteria. For many people who experience mobility-related disabilities, cafés and restaurants would be hard, if not impossible, to access. Other cities have reported similar accessibility barriers in public places such as schools, recreation centres, and town centres.
The inability to access places of business, recreation, and leisure can lead to the exclusion and isolation of particular groups of people, like those who use scooters and wheelchairs or experience other mobility disabilities or limitations (e.g., pushing a stroller). Barriers to access that are preventable and impact some groups of people and not others create inequities – that is, differences that are unfair and unjust.
Inequities in access don’t need to exist and can be changed through better policies, like the new City of Edmonton Accessibility for People with Disabilities Policy. Recently, we’ve noticed accessibly policies being created across Canada. For example, the City of Toronto and the Government of Canada have policies that target barrier-free access. These are steps in the right direction. It will take time to understand if these policies result in positive change, who benefits, and what more needs to be done.
Moving forward, we’ll need more research to understand existing accessibility policies, remove accessibility barriers, promote equity, and ensure that everyone can benefit fully from the cities where they live. This pilot study is just the beginning. We at the Centre for Healthy Communities are committed to continuing this work along with our partners at the City of Edmonton and the city council’s Accessibility Advisory Committee. Ultimately, our shared goal is to make Edmonton a more accessible, equitable, and inclusive place for all.