Creating the Access Strategy for People with Disabilities

Birmingham Connected: Access Strategy

The Equality Act (2010) sets out a strategy for ensuring that protected characteristics (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation) are not discriminated against. With that in mind, Birmingham set out to develop transport schemes that will meet the needs of all users irrespective of the presence or otherwise of any of the above characteristics. That’s the Birmingham Mobility Action Plan (BMAP). Our job? To produce an access strategy that acknowledged the needs of different and sometimes conflicting user groups.

To address the specific challenges associated with the sometimes-conflicting needs of different users, we conducted careful and sympathetic liaison with various groups representing a range of different disabilities.

The final work ended in a short text supporting a table of considerations—a checklist that included all disabilities and all modes of travel. This resource can be referred to when developing transport schemes as a way to ensure equitable design is implemented. Besides this document, we also contributed on all other sections of the BMAP paper to ensure a consistent approach to designing for people with disabilities.