From your car park take the journey as a potential learner arriving at your establishment.
Consider how you might improve both physical and psychological access to your buildings.
Door widths, ramp gradients, hand rails, contrast edges of steps (usually white) turning spaces (wheel chair).
Counter heights, accessible WC, Braille buttons in lifts, signage, colour contrasts and lighting in corridors.
Acoustic properties, ambience, consider sensory landmarks, plants, fragrance. Different floor textures can act like a map.
Building use, building management, policy and practice. Staff attitudes, staff training, welcoming environment, obvious reception area with good signage.
Keep an open mind. Each service and facility is likely to be different in each learning centre. Good practice is about anticipating what access requirements people might have. As a learning provider our duty is to the public as a whole, not to specific individuals with known impairments.
It is very important to keep up with the process of good practice. Society’s attitudes towards access and disabled people are changing.
The DDA is an evolving duty. Policy, practice and procedure need to be under constant review as new situations bring new learning opportunities.
Regular access audits and budgeting for future improvements to access are excellent anticipatory adjustments that we as service providers must embrace.