Accessible, Inclusive and Universal Designed Play Spaces.

Creating Inclusive Play Spaces through the Principles of Universal Design.

At ACTIVE we believe that an accessible or inclusive playspace should support the rights of children to expect to play side by side with their peers as a fact and not as an exception to the rule. We embrace the diversity of all our children and creatively design an accessible playspace that welcomes all to play together. Our goal is to remove barriers and create pathways while providing maximum play value for each childs unique needs and abilities.

Playground Accessibility Understood
Playground accessibility typically refers to minimum accessibility standards as set forth under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Although important to use the ADA as a reference, many playgrounds designed to be accessible, meet only the minimum accessibility requirements with play-value nearly completely out of the equation. Our belief is that utilizing the ideals of Universal Design will result in a welcoming environment while maximizing play opportunities and play value for ALL.

A Fully Accessible Ramp

Understanding Inclusivity and Universal Design
The actual definition of Universal Design is “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design (Centre for Universal Design, 1997).
Many accessible playgrounds have zones that are designed for children of different abilities. There may be an area that has an ‘accessible section’ and one that has a series of monkey bars that other children could not access. Inclusivity and Universal Design is a thought process or philosophy that looks at component or playground design so all children regardless of ability can play side by side with each other.

It also creates a play environment that is not zone-prejudice to different abilities, but allows users to interact inclusively and universally throughout the playscape. It takes accessibility much further for overall usability and interactivity of the users for a complete playground solution.

When designing an accessible, or inclusive play structure, there are some things to think about: does the main access route lend itself to all users? Does the surfacing used to access all playground components allow for accessibility of all children whether on foot or by using an assistive mobility device. Does a ramp allow for all children to access all of the different components on the play-structure itself? Can all children get to the top of the playground giving all of them a ‘king of the castle’ perspective, or can only the completely able-bodied ones do so? Are sand or creative areas designed so they can be accessed by walker or a wheelchair?
Active Playground has a wide range of accessible, inclusive and universally designed playground equipment that allows children of all abilities to play side by side with each other.

Depending upon the demographic your playstructure is catering to, your ACTIVE rep will be able to assist you through your Inclusive or Universally accessible playstructure design.

When choosing surfacing to compliment your accessible, or inclusive playground, choose a solution that will allow for children in a walker, or a wheelchair to access all the ground level components in your playspace. Surfacing option such as sand, peastone, and some loose fill can be very difficult to negotiate, and firm surfacing, such as SofTILE is an ideal solution. Although sand cannot not be used as part of an Accessible route, the tremendous play value of sand can be integrated into the inclusive play environment through elevated sand tables, accessible diggers or the option to transfer from mobility devices into the sand area itself. Everyone deserves the right to get messy.