In the Spotlight

Sense Scotland survey:

'Towns and cities still have poor access for disabled people'
Annual survey offers shopping list for accessible services

Our second annual survey asked how easy it is for disabled people to travel into our towns and cities, and how accessible they are one year on from the extension of legal access, under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). The results revealed that despite rules for access being in place, many towns, cities, shops and services are still failing disabled people their families and carers.

One person expressed frustration about their restricted choices for leisure. "I have limited options for fun. For example if I want to go to the cinema I have to go to another town, which is an hour away."

Survey shopping list for easier access:

• wider stairs and aisles
• better guides to accessible services
• more pedestrian crossings
• more subtitled film screenings
• maps for disabled parking spaces
• better quality paving
• greater visual accessibility (lighting, signage etc.)
• more automatic doors
• longer stays in disabled parking

"The people in this survey are quite rightly asking for the chance to enjoy all the facilities that our towns and cities have to offer," explained Joyce Wilson, Depute Director of Sense Scotland. "Their requests are not unreasonable - more accessible loos, transport services they can use and parking they can rely on. Disabled people are asking for equality when it comes to getting goods and using services and they now have the statutory backing for it."

Key messages from survey

• disabled people want to spend more time and money in our towns and city centres and look to councils, businesses and services to improve access to their facilities
• travelling into towns and cities is still difficult for most disabled people and some people are not able to visit town centres at all
• public transport is often unavailable or inaccessible to disabled people
• there are still problems with the lack of disabled parking spaces, their location and monitoring of use by non disabled people
• personal care and toilet facilities (especially for disabled adults) can be difficult to find and are often too small, or poorly equipped
• when people are able to use them, retail centres with a variety of shops, restaurants and entertainments under one roof proved popular and relatively more accessible
• the aisles of many shops and services are often too narrow for easy access and can be cluttered

Click here to see the full versionof the report and our other special projects.

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