Accessibility Design Guide: Universal design …

1 Accessibility Design guide : Universal Design principles for Australia s aid program A companion volume to Development for All: Towards a disability-inclusive Australian aid program 2009 2014 2 Accessibility Design guide Accessibility Design guide : Universal Design principles for Australia s aid program A Companion Volume to Development for All: Towards a disability-inclusive Australian aid program 2009-2014 With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and where otherwise noted, all material presented in this document is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution Australia ( ) licence. The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website (accessible using the links provided) as is the full legal code for the CC BY AU licence ( ).

2 The document must be attributed as AusAID, Accessibility Design guide : Universal Design principles for Australia s aid program , January 2013, Registration Number 13. This document is online at: For further information about the Australian Government s international development program, contact: Communications Section AusAID GPO Box 887 Canberra ACT 2601 Phone (02) 6178 4000 Facsimilie (02) 6178 4880 Internet Edited by Clarity Communications, Canberra Designed by Communications, Canberra Printed by Blue Star Print, Canberra Principal Technical Advisor, Alexander & Lloyd Group, Sydney Other Technical advice, Michael Fox AM, Paul Starkey These icons symbolise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) eight goals representing an agreement by world leaders to reduce poverty and enhance human development by 2015.

3 More information about the MDGs is available online at 3 Accessibility Design guide Contents Abbreviations .. 4 About these guidelines .. 5 Acknowledgements .. 6 Part A 1. Background .. 7 2. Definition of Universal Design .. 8 3. Inclusive development .. 9 4. Universal Design in the Aid Management Cycle .. 17 5. Sectors of the aid program requiring Universal guidelines .. 20 Part B Annex A: Built environment .. 23 Annex B: Health .. 50 Annex C: Water, sanitation and hygiene facilities .. 55 Annex D: Energy solutions .. 63 Annex E: Housing .. 67 Annex F: Education .. 75 Annex G: Information and communication technology .. 94 Annex H: Transport systems and infrastructure .. 101 Annex I: Rural development .. 119 Annex J: Law and justice .. 127 Annex K: Humanitarian action.

4 132 4 Accessibility Design guide Abbreviations AusAID Australian Agency for International Development BESIK Be Saneamentu, Igene iha Komunidade (Community WASH) CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (United Nations) GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft f r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (formally known as GTZ), federally-funded German aid organisation ICT information and communication technology ILO International Labour Organization UN United Nations UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization WASH water, sanitation and hygiene WHO World Health Organization 5 Accessibility Design guide About these guidelines Accessibility Design guide : Universal Design principles for Australia s aid program provides guidance on enabling people with disability to participate equally in social and economic life through the Design and implementation of development initiatives.

5 This guide is a rich resource of ideas which development practitioners can consider when applying Universal Design . The aim is to support Australia s aid program so it minimises barriers and becomes more accessible to people with disability and other groups, including the elderly, pregnant women, children and people with a temporary illness or injury. While based on good practice and successful implementation of Universal Design internationally, this guide is not meant to be prescriptive. It is based on the reality that the barriers people with disability face vary between developing countries and between locations in-country. It is also based on the reality that each development project is unique and faces its own challenges, locally or otherwise, that may prevent it from applying all Universal Design principles to the letter.

6 This Accessibility Design guide supports Australia s own commitment to people with disability and supports its international obligations. It has been developed to support the many players involved in designing, appraising, implementing, monitoring or otherwise managing Australian aid activities funded through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). This includes: AusAID activity managers contractors non-government organisations, including Disabled People s Organisations development partners, including partner governments. It may also be of relevance to other donors and international aid organisations. This guide is divided into two parts: Part A discusses the importance of including people with disability in Australia s aid program and how doing so supports Australian and international commitments.

7 It also provides context for how disability inclusion is integral to sustainable development. Part B contains annexes providing practical guidance to consider across a range of sectors in which Australia s aid program is involved. It includes checklists, diagrams and examples to help practitioners integrate Universal Design principles into different thematic areas. 6 Accessibility Design guide Acknowledgements AusAID would like to acknowledge the many contributors to this document, including AusAID staff and advisers based in Canberra and overseas, technical experts, representatives from other donor agencies, Australian and international non-government organisations, including Disabled People s Organisations, and multilateral organisations. 7 Accessibility Design guide Part A 1.

8 Background In producing the Accessibility Design guide : Universal Design principles for Australia s aid program , the Australian Government is responding to its national and international commitments in supporting people with disability, specifically through the physical (built) environment. In producing this guide , the Australian Government has taken another step forward in supporting its disability-inclusive development strategy Development for All: Towards a disability-inclusive Australian aid program 2009 Development for All marks a change in the way the aid program is designed and delivered. Its central premise is equality and the need to include people with disability in all aspects of development, to ensure that policies and programs are shaped to better take account of their requirements.

9 This guide supports the implementation of Development for All s first core outcome, which is Improved quality of life for people with disability. 2 The Accessibility Design guide also supports Australia s response to An Effective aid program for Australia: Making a real difference Delivering real results, published in 2011. In Effective Aid the government committed to enhancing the lives of people with disabilities as one of the 10 development objectives of the aid Internationally, this guide supports Australian obligations under a range of United Nations (UN) agreements including, importantly, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).4 This is the first international Convention to include an article on development (Article 32). As a party to the Convention, Australia is committed to ensuring that development activities are inclusive of, and accessible to, people with disability.

10 These guidelines are consistent with the CRPD s definition of Universal Design , meaning that the Design of products, environments, programs and services are to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised Design . Universal Design does not exclude assistive devices for particular groups of people with disability where this is The World Report on Disability 2011 states that disability is a development issue because of its bidirectional link to poverty: disability may increase the risk of poverty and poverty may increase the risk of disability. An increasing body of research acknowledges that people with disability and their families are more likely to experience economic and social disadvantage than those without disability.