It is not only the building that must be accessible but also all the services it offers. This involves the installation of PMR toilets but also easy access to restaurants in a shopping center, for example, and everything in addition to stores.
For cultural places such as museums, accessibility with high tech driving systems takes on a whole new dimension because they must also make the content of their exhibitions accessible. Solutions such as the audio description for people with a visual disability, set up in the cinema, tactile and raised models, subtitled videos for users with hearing disabilities allow all visitors to refuel.
The Equivalent Effect Solution
What is meant by a solution of equivalent effect? Quite simply a device or a piece of equipment which makes it possible to have accessibility, whereas this is not a solution cited in the regulations. Sometimes, project managers or owners are faced with situations where the devices forming part of the regulations cannot be applied to the building on which they are working. Turning to a solution of equivalent effect allows them to use innovations that make the place accessible.
For example, the sound beacon that we presented to you is a solution of equivalent effect. It is certainly not part of the regulations, but it provides optimal audio guidance for visually impaired people. Moreover, 80% of them think that the sound beacon represents the most helpful device to them.
Staff Trained To Welcome Disabled People.
This concerns both the agents of a transport network counter and those of a public service or even the receptionists of a hotel. All employees required to interact and provide information to users with disabilities must be trained to welcome them properly. This means that they must understand their type of disability to know how to meet their needs best.
Training staff in welcoming people with disabilities is an integral part of the law. Many training organizations support establishments open to the public to provide a quality welcome to all their users, whatever their profile.
But there are, of course, some obvious common-sense things like empathizing and smiling. This makes it possible to put users with disabilities at ease, but it is also valid for all the others and establishes a relationship of trust.
