Developing Methods for Grading the Accessibility of a Communality’s Infrastructure

Abstract

For people with disabilities, accessibility is a critical aspect of infrastructure that influences their health, quality of life, and ability to participate in community life. Currently, no standard methods exist for assessing a community’s accessibility or for accumulating such data across communities. ASCE’s report card on the status of America’s infrastructure offers a framework for collecting and aggregating data on accessibility, and for using it to advocate for community improvement. In the present study, an assessment for estimating a community’s accessibility was developed and pilot tested. The feasibility of the assessment method was tested by observing 297 randomly selected businesses in a city. Aggregated across nine access categories, the city scored 3.32 on a four-point scale, the equivalent of a grade of “B” on ASCE’s scale. However, 28 (10%) businesses met “access failure” criteria—having at least one barrier that precluded access to a person using a wheelchair. On average, infrastructure maintained by private businesses was more accessible than the same observed elements maintained by the municipality. This approach could be expanded to include other elements of community accessibility—transportation, housing, and information—to develop report cards on community accessibility at the local and state levels. Data on accessibility collected systematically and longitudinally would benefit policy makers, planners, and disability advocates. Achieving and maintaining the infrastructure’s accessibility would benefit everyone.