Glen Waverley Professional Suites

I had to attend this building to visit one of the specialist Orthodontists for a root canal. I was very surprised at the number of non compliance’s observed.

Again this post is for education purposes which is why I have not included its address.

Non compliant tenancy entry

Inaccessible Tenancy Entries

The majority of the tenancies have entries like this with no minimum latch side clearance. UNder current standards the minimum typically requires is 470mm.

Non compliant glazing bands

Inter-tenancy Doors

As with the entry doors the majority of the tenancies have entries like this with no minimum latch side clearance.

Non compliant toilet signage | Braille | Tactile

Travelers with disabilities face obstacles at airports

With laws such as the Air Carrier Access Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, you might assume that people with disabilities no longer encounter obstacles at U.S. airports.

Unfortunately, that’s not true. “Frankly, there isn’t enough policing going on to go look at all these airports to see if they’re 100% compliant,” notes Tim Joniec of the Houston Airport System. “So at some airports it may take a traveler complaining about a service that isn’t there before attention is paid to a problem.”

And even if a traveler does lodge a complaint, “you’d be surprised at how many airports, including some enormous ones, just don’t care,” says Eric Lipp, the executive director of the Open Doors Organization (ODO), a non-profit that works with businesses and the disability community.

For those that do care, next month the Open Doors Organization (ODO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) will host a conference about universal access in airports. On the agenda: tools, technology and training to help both airports and airlines do a better job of serving travelers with disabilities.

One topic sure to be discussed is money. About 55 million people in this country have some sort of disability. This community spends upwards of $14 billion a year on travel; more than $3 billion a year on airplane tickets alone.

With medical care and life expectancy improving, the number of travelers with disabilities is predicted to increase to more than 80 million in the next 20 years. Yet, when the Open Doors Organization surveyed adults with disabilities about travel, more than 80% reported encountering obstacles at airports and with airline personnel.

Suits by disabled raise questions on litigation law

Senate bill was supposed to reduce inappropriate claims under the Americans With Disabilities Act, but some small businesses faced with litigation say reforms are needed.

Litegation due to not providing required access
Olivia Maxwell eats ice cream at Powell’s Sweet Shoppe in Long Beach. The store’s owners are
fighting a $9,000 lawsuit brought by a disabled man. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times / September 17, 2010)

It didn’t take long to figure out why a man in a wheelchair had been snapping photographs of the aisles, counters, shelves and bathrooms inside eateries and watering holes in a fashionable eastern Long Beach enclave.

On June 30, Powell’s Sweet Shoppe; Open Sesame, a Lebanese restaurant; and Panama Joe’s Grill & Cantina were served with lawsuits on behalf of Eric Moran alleging that they were in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. The violations, each of which could cost a minimum $4,000 in damages, ranged from lacking a restroom grab bar to a restaurant chair out in an aisle.

Access difficulties demonstrated to candidates

The race for the mayor’s office of the Queenstown Lakes district reached a new level in Arrowtown yesterday – in a wheelchair and on crutches.

Mayoral aspirants Vanessa van Uden, Simon Hayes and Michael Scott were challenged by Disabilities Resource Centre advocate Stefanee Woodham, of Arrowtown, to try out the aids and experience first-hand the challenges of mobility for residents living with a disability.

“I just want them to think and acknowledge how hard it is to get around, and I’ve said I’ll visit whichever one of them gets in office and ask them to improve accessibility in the district,” Mrs Woodham said.

Mayoral aspirants trying building access in wheelchairs
Queenstown Lakes district mayoral candidates
(from left) Simon Hayes, Vanessa van Uden
and Michael Scott, with Disabilities Resource
Centre advocate Stefanee Woodham (right),
of Arrowtown. Photo by James Beech.

View from a chair: ‘Even going out for a meal can be an ordeal’

KIARA LYNCH was pleasantly surprised to be asked to test disability access at Dublin Airport’s new terminal. It was a rare moment in a country where everyday activities such as travelling, eating out and even going to the loo are often frustrating experiences

LAST WEEK I took part in an operational trial in the soon-to-be-opened Terminal 2 facility at Dublin Airport. The Dublin Airport Authority invited me, as a full-time manual wheelchair user who travels extensively, to test the terminal, to ensure that when the facility opens in November it will be accessible to everyone who walks, wheels or limps along its shiny new floors.

Completing my snag list, I made a mental bookmark of the moment, gratified that a government agency was reaching out to the disability sector to make sure it had been done right. It wouldn’t have happened 10 years ago when I was 16 and had just started using a wheelchair.

Back then, I thought I was going to change the world. From my chair I looked around and saw that access in this country was woeful. I mistakenly believed that if only I could communicate this to the politicians and to the general public, everything would change. Laws would be put in place to make wheelchair life more equitable and soon there would be nowhere in Ireland that people in wheelchairs could not go. I’ve spent the past 10 years learning that life doesn’t work like that.

Airport Access

AS1735 Part 15 Lfts as a deemed to satisfy Part 12 lift

We have had 3 requests recently to sign off on a type of lift that a company is passing off to Architects as being BCA/Part 12 compliant. The key issue I have with these lifts is that they are constant pressure operation part 15 lifts with modifications (as opposed to the Part 14 type Masterlifts manufacture). Lifts travel between floors and have been specified within works associated with the BER.

The following is one of the manufacturers typical responses.

Will your wall setouts comply with AS1428.1

Continuous Accessible Path of TravelIn the past wall setouts on plans were based on stud frame to stud frame. With the implementation of AS1428.1-2009 Building Designers will need to carefully review setouts as the minimum spaces nominated must me unobstructed.

Typical obstructions include (but not limited to)

This will mean where minimum widths are nominated ie a corridor of 1220mm may need stud offsets of 1276mmmm (1220mm + 20mm (2 x 10mm plasterboard), + 36mm (2 x 18mm skirtings).

Corridor widths, latch & hinge clearances, sanitary facilities etc will all be affected.

What does AS1428.1-2009 say?

6 CONTINUOUS ACCESSIBLE PATHS OF TRAVEL

Lawsuit: California fails to accommodate deaf workers

SAN FRANCISCO — Deaf and hard-of-hearing state employees in California are regularly denied sign language interpreters for meetings and have been left behind during emergency evacuations because of a failure to accommodate their disability, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

“Our investigation reveals a systemic breakdown,” said Joshua Konecky, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “Deaf employees describe a haphazard and patchwork environment for requesting and securing accommodations, if they get them at all.”

The problems have resulted in workplace “isolation, exclusion, prejudice and overall pervasive discrimination,” the suit says.
The lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court cites problems at the Department of Rehabilitation, Department of Justice, California Public Employees Retirement System and Department of Social Services.

It seeks class action status and includes seven named plaintiffs, including a woman who works in the Office of Deaf Access for the Department of Social Services.

There are about 1,500 state workers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Rachel Arrezola, a spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a defendant in the case, said the state is committed to accommodating disabled employees to ensure they are able to fulfill their job responsibilities.

New AS1428.1-2009 CAD Details

New AS1428.1-2009 CAD details have just been uploaded for use, note there is no charge to use them.

We have detailed

https://www.disabilityaccessconsultants.com.au/cad-details/

New Australian Standard AS 1428.5-2010 Communication for people who are deaf or hearing impaired

The objective of this Standard is to assist in the provision of an environment in which people who are Deaf or who have a hearing impairment are included and can share in information and communicate with all members of the community.

This standard is available from SAI Global HERE

AS1428-5 Communication for people who are deaf or hearing impairedClinical assessment of hearing loss in a section of the Australian population aged over 15 years shows that hearing loss affects approximately 22% of the community (Hearing impairment in an Australian Population, Wilson et al 1998). Additional clinical studies (Blue Mountains Hearing Study 1997–99, Mitchell P., 2002) show that age-related hearing loss increases steeply with age from 11% for people aged between 55 and 59 years to 24% for people aged between 60 and 69 years, to 51% for people aged between 70 and 79 years, to 78% for people aged over 80 years. Listen hear! The economic cost and impact of hearing loss in Australia by Access Economics (2006), shows that 1 in 6 Australians have some form of hearing loss, and this is projected to increase to 1 in 4 by 2050.