Thursday Truths: Building The Right Future Together

My Way Access is a portal for people to find out where is and isn’t accessible to need their needs for the various types of physical or invisible disabilities they might have.

In a lot of the cases, we accept there is a limit as to what can be done. Buildings which maybe 15 – 20 years old, would not have been built to the current buildings accessibility regulations. As a result, some of the work that should be done may not be done due to the structure of the building and the financial cost. This is something, which we have come to accept, despite the frustrations it brings to us.

A place where we do find the biggest frustrations is when new buildings or extensions are being built; yet do not meet the accessibility needs for all of the people who are using them.

From personal experience, I have been working as part of an Access Forum in my local town to get a building up to scratch to meet the needs of the entire community, including those with disabilities. We were aware of that the building work was in development and made request on several occasions to get access to the designs and to have input to ensure that it met the needs for all.

We were given limited access to the design process and our input into the design was never taken seriously. Out of the many recommendations we made at the early stage, only one was implemented. As a result, many people with disabilities have stopped attending and gone to other towns for the same amenity.

Often the case is, that the costs are too high to go back and correct mistakes to ensure that buildings are fully accessible to all. However, this just proves as another reason why people with disabilities should be consulted at the early stages. We can spot the mistakes early on and make our recommendations. Thus eliminating the costs in the future to improve the facilities.

My Way Access think that all capital projects in the future, should have a disabled persons forum at the design stage. No one fully understands the needs and requirements of a person with a disability, than the people themselves. We need to have our say to that projects in the future fully needs our needs and the needs of the whole community who will be using it in the future.

Currently the Access Forum are still working to get a Fermanagh and Omagh District Council building in Omagh changed to meet the needs for people with disabilities. An item we have been working on for many years to get right and still meeting resistance.

So to get it right at the start, ask us at the start.