Streetscapes are the pavements, walkways and roads we use every day. It gives people the freedom to move and access the world. However, street furniture, like outdoor dining, bins, bus stops, and benches all add obstacles and challenges for disabled people.
Plus, with new green transport on the horizon, more furniture will be added to our streetscape, with e-scooters, vehicle charging cables and charging posts. We need to act now, so that we ensure the streetscape remains accessible and inclusive.
Short form Word format
Large print Word format
We developed a survey which then informed a fuller questionnaire that looked to find out what barriers disabled people face while using the ordinary streets in their local environments, before they even seek to use transport.
We asked them for their lived experiences so we can share this with researchers, designers, and policy makers to design real solutions for the streetscape issues both today and in the future.
The goal of the research was to:
- Understand the barriers disabled people face when using the streetscape
- Understand why changes are not being made to the streetscape
- Evidence what the impact on a disabled person’s life is because of inaccessible streets
- Prioritise the actions that should be made to improve the streetscape
We conducted interviews with 26 disabled people from around the UK. Each interview was around 40-60 minutes long and could be conducted either over the phone, on Microsoft Teams or on Zoom, at the interviewee’s preference.
We then sent out an online survey which was completed by 408 disabled people. The online survey could be completed by phone or video relay. The survey took around 15-20 minutes to complete. The survey was designed to be accessible.
In both studies, we asked disabled people about:
- their experiences of using the streetscape
- the biggest barriers they faced
- what happened when they contacted their local authority
- how the streetscape is changing and how it affects the journeys made
Four key themes were clear from the interviews:
- Exhaustion
- Unpredictability
- Invisibility
- Burden of adjusting for society
We developed the following principles for streetscape accessibility, by bringing together all of the findings, themes and gaps identified.
- Inclusion
- Communication
- Education
Local Authorities and urban developers must critically prioritise the maintenance and improvement of pavement surfaces around the UK.
Reporting issues to Local Authorities needs a fundamental overhaul, with significant changes needed in how feedback from disabled people is handled. There must be transparency in what happens to a complaint and an obligation for the local authority to provide a response.
Develop new standards around the provision of temporary paths and ramps at roadworks and ensure this is enforced in legislation, to ensure that paths remain accessible. Furthermore, residents should be notified of disruptions in their local area, so that they may plan around this before coming across the works in the streetscape.
ncat will:
Use and share these findings to inform future research in conjunction with priorities identified through the voices and experiences of disabled people.
Work with partners and stakeholders to make these findings available to robustly evidence the issues faced by disabled people when accessing transport.
Work with policy makers, transport providers, and industry, to translate these findings to influence future policy and develop solutions that reduce the transport accessibility gap.
How can I access the report?
A full report, is available, along with a highlights version which has been translated into BSL and Easy Read versions.
An accessible pdf version, along with a short form word document and a large print word document are also available.
Key Insights Report
We’ve produced a Key Insights Report to be a more visual representation of the key findings in the report, and this is available as an Accessible PDF.
Designed Accessible PDF format
Our Full Report here contains all the report findings, including appendices and references. Browse the options and access the version that works best for you.