Methodology for the Making of an Accessibility Guidebook: Proposal Study for Rio de Janeiro
Cristiane Rose Duarte, Titular Professor at FAU/UFRJ, Architect (UFRJ, 1981), Territorial Planning DSc. (Sorbonne - Université de Paris-I, 1993), Brazil
Regina Cohen, Associate Professor at FAU/UFRJ, Architect (UFRJ, 1981), Psychology Doctorate Inceptor (EICOS/IP/UFRJ), Brazil
Abstract
Our proposal towards a specific methodology for the making of an accessibility guide-book, under development by the Group "Pró-acesso"/ PROARQ/UFRJ, aims to offer some indispensable information on good quality of accessibility to the city and to include Rio de Janeiro in the context of world tourist accessible cities.
This proposal comes from our efforts on research and cataloguing since 1999 and aims to widen the acquaintance and information about accessibility matters and give special attention to the various special needs people with mobility difficulty have.
In order to analyse and estimate inclusive spaces in the city, the methodology taken by "Núcleo Pró-acesso" is based on the comprehension of the difficult interfaces between accessibility specificities, rather than the recognition of those specificities in relation to different types of difficulties people may have.
The conclusion of this survey is followed by the elaboration of easy-identificating icons which allow the immediate grasping of their meanings by the readers.
Introduction
The development of a methodology for the making of Rio de Janeiro Accessibility Guide-book is managed through the partnership between the Bureau of Research, Teaching and Planning on Accessibility and Universal Design (Núcleo Pró-acesso) and PROARQ/FAU/UFRJ. We try to add our results to the (still) insignificant number of studies focusing sustainability as a promoter of benign organisms and stimulator of accessible tourist cities.
Many theoreticians defend self-sustainable development as the gathering between economic/social development and environment. Based on that, we conclude it is necessary to worry about either environment degradation or the matter of universal tourist accessibility.
Figure 1: Enjoying the wonderful scenery of the 'Sugar Loaf' in Rio de Janeiro.
In this way, we not only plan to format the Guide-book as an instrument of diffusion of diverse cultural and leisure activities but, also, as an influent agent to speed values of citizenship, civility and adaptation of services offered in the city to people with mobility difficulty. This will surely promote encounters, social exchanges and gatherings between physically different people.
Moreover, we believe in the multiplying power of the product "Accessibility Guide-book" once it will be able to generate social consciousness and mobilization regarding the readaptation of tourist spots in the city and, also, to improve access to public spaces for people with mobility difficulty, elders, children or people with any kind of disability.
Accessibility and Specificities of Potential Tourist Groups
The concept of "accessibility" had been previously linked to people with mobility difficulty and, specifically, to people who move on wheel-chairs. Nowadays, we understand that accessibility to spaces in the city is, however, associated to every different group that make our society.
We do not plan or speak of places adapted to phisically disabled people, which would indicate the making of exclusive and segregated ambients. It is, on the contrary, a matter of estimating the level of accessibility for every segment of the population that points out the ability of places to shelter the differences.
We know the access conditions for visually disabled people calls for the attendance of some specific necessities to access and move onto places: the existence of guide-paving and alert pavements, the contrast of certain colors and adequate lighting, elevators with high relief pressing buttons and sound warning for each floor. The absence of barriers that are of difficult detection by canes, is one of the factors that should be taken into consideration when planning spaces for tourism. In the same way, the tourist with some difficulty to move (e.g.) rarely has the opportunity to find good hotels and other touristic places because of the lack of proper accessibility. Mostly, just because of their different condition, these tourists are forced to experience constraining situations that, many times, wound their dignity, self-respect and separate them from social life.
As we know, elders have different levels of difficulties be it of locomotion, auditive or visual order. We also understand that the third-age population has affective and psychological necessities that are linked to the physical ones. In this way, it is important to offer this group the information of possible places for encounters, activities that stimulate social life, leisure routes and so forth.
In our country, those specificities have hardly been in a priority list, as we search to explaim in the next lines.
Inclusive Tourism in Brazil
The research we mention in this paper began in 1998 enraptured by international movements that have generated accessible facilities and produced touristic guide-books of accessible cities since the 80s. In countries like France, Germany, the USA and some Scandinavian ones, the sector that cares about internactional tourism understood the importance of this supplementary market and consolidated the concept of "tourism for all." This movement has grown progressively in many countries - with multiplying effects - as they did not only increased the number of eldes or people with mobility difficulty who wish to travel but also improved the number of companies who adopt this social responsibility.
In Brazil, in spite of the crescent world consciousness about the necessity of planning spaces that gather a great number of potential tourists, the theme "accessibility" has been forgotten for too long.
Recently (2003), in the account of the directory that takes care of the public policies regarding People with Mobility Difficulty, the Federal Government - aware of the gap between 'speech' and 'reality' - tried to make amends for the lack of references to those people with the "National Tourism Plan".
In the Federal Report n. 13/2003, the National Court for the Rights of People with Mobility Difficulty (CONADE) stated that a great number of touristic brazilian cities still have many access barriers.
In the same year (2003), the Permanent Committee of Accessibility - in the Federal Disctrict - creates a programme aiming at "mobilizing Government and civil society sectors so as to discuss the matters related to accessibility to monuments, touristic facilities and leisure areas in the Federal District - Brasília" (Turismo sem Barreiras, Relatório Síntese, ago 2003, pp.3).
Some cities like São Paulo, Goiânia, Juiz de Fora and Belo Horizonte/Brazil started throwing campaigns in favor of social awareness and for the making of accessibility guide-books, but it was worthless; they were not able to get any support from the investiment sectors of touristic activities.
More recently, the state of Rio de Janeiro also started a movement for "Accessible Tourism and Leisure For All." Meanwhile, the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro - through the Committes for the Person with Mobility Difficulty and Tourism - carried out the Conference "Rio de Janeiro, a State For All" in may, 2004. This Conference focused the discussion over the importance of planning inclusive touristic spaces in the almost 98 municipal disctricts of the state.
The Importance of Accessibility for the Image of Rio de Janeiro
In Rio de Janeiro, some world famous tourist spots like the 'Sugar Loaf' and 'Corcovado' have gone through various adaptations but still present many barriers. An american tourist, on a wheel-chair, informally spoke to us that his trip to Rio de Janeiro had been fantastic, specially when visiting 'Christ The Redemptor' (or 'Corcovado'), until the moment he had to access the snack-bar - at Corcovado - through a huge step of a short stairway. It is one of various examples that lead us to the conclusion that simple obstacles can invalidate the efforts and public expenses towards the adaptation of steep surfaces.
In the same way, the researches developed along these last years by Núcleo Pró-acesso indicate that both people with mobility difficulty and a great deal of the population have a number of aspirations in relation to the city and its image.
Looking at Rio de Janeiro through the inhabitants and visitors' imaginary we perceive the symbols are developed not only according to the Ideal City, where those people want to live/visit, but also according to the meanings they get from the image of the city and thereby construct their own identity.
In fact, when great international meetings, scientific congresses and political events take place, the City of Rio de Janeiro misses the opportunity to show how much it cares for reaching the highest levels of social evolution, adjusting its unquestionable touristic potential to the needs of every citizen, including those with mobility difficulty.
Methodology for the making of an Accessible Guide-Book
Thinking of accessibility to physical environment, sustainability and tourism, Núcleo Pró-acesso is in process of making the guide-book "Rio de Janeiro For All" with the support of publishing companies, corporations related to touristic sectors and sponsoring institutions.
In opposition to some works produced in other states of the country, we aim to appraise our historical, artistic and cultural heritage of the city in the attempt of stimulating the participation of people with mobility difficulty in the cultural production of the cities.
We also think of a brief braille version of the guide-book, but our proposal works with the conception of a CD-ROM version supplied with voice sounding (DOS-VOX, a free software developed by UFRJ).
Methodological Practice
Concisely, the methodological proceedings for the making of the accessibility guide-book "Rio de Janeiro For All," the accessibility conditions of some places and tourist attractions will be assessed through a pre-established check-list, guided by a previous survey, that offers the following items to be done: surveying specific data related to the city of Rio de Janeiro which will complement the information supplied by the guide-book. This phase, already started, is based on the concept of "Accessible Route" that guides the classification of inclusive tourist spots or not.
We must explain the concept "Accessible Route" so as to clarify its identification; this term means there is a free distance covered without any hindrances and it consists of a continuity of accessible steps. That is: for us to consider a Museum as really accessible it is not worth standing out the existence of a 'ramp' or an 'adequate information desk' if between one another there is a turnstile or a revolving gate.
Guide-Book Format
The team involved in the making of this Accessibility Guide-book developed a sample of an informative folder which we consider "daring." However, there is no prejudice in relation to the clearness of the information. The basic idea is to flee from the commom aspects of regular guide-books which only emphasize telephone numbers and addresses.
This sample, enraptured by a regular Tourist Guide-book, does not remove the basic premise of making a guide-book of easy thumbing and furnished with clear and updated information.
In this way, we came to the mockup of a 4,72 x 8,27 inch format which allows the easy handling by people with motor disabilities and by people who wish (and need) to hold the guide-book in one hand and have a magnifying glass in the other. We came to the conclusion that these dimensions would benefit both size and illustrations layout. (figure 2)
Figure 2: Cover-leaf, internal flap and captions format.
We count on a visual programming project that includes information supplied by some symbols that ease the comprehension of the text even by people who do not understand the written language in which the texts are composed (Portuguese and/or English). (figures 3 and 4)
Figure 3: Samples of informational pages classified by the level of accessibility.
Figure 4: Sample of a page giving infomation about the zoning area
and the access to "Museu da República"
As an example of this situation we hereby relate the experience of the Republic Museum. The accessibility research developed there includes the outlining of access-ways by public means of transportation as well as parking conditions for private vehicles. This example shows, at the same time, the various possibilities for accessing the building and complements the accessibility information provided in the captions for each attraction, tourist spot or service in the guide-book.
The process of surveying and analyzing the indicative elements of buildings was previously tested in the neighborhood of Catete/RJ, by the time we assessed and evaluated the accessibility of 'Museu da República', its surroundings and complementary services in the local facilities. The prototype was based on that chosen neighborhood, including its historical approach, architectonic and urban information as well as other relevant important data.
In the specific case of "Museu da República" we faced the following situation: one of the managers 'offered' part of the parking places for adapted vehicles and marked them with an accessibility signal. However, those parking places were far from the entrance and the pavement consisted of fine pieces of stone which blocked the circulation of people on wheel-chairs and blind people wearing canes (figure 5).
Figure 5: Parking lot of "Museu da República"
- "adapted" parking place.
Figure 6: Access ramp to "Museu da República"
- inadequate inclination and positioning.
Continuing the explanation of the same example, we found an access ramp at 'Museu da República'. Nevertheless, this ramp had neither adequate inclination nor a privileged positioning, what usually makes users go round the building and leave it by the rear door (figure 6). During the survey we could see many other barriers in this place but none of them seemed to be of difficult solution with a good re-adaptation project (figures 7 and 8).
Figure 7: Older tourist couple having some difficulty
going down the stairway of the museum-shop.
Figure 8: Catete (zoning area) short concrete
hindrances and information signals offer great
danger to blind people.
Final Considerations: Tourism, Spatial Inclusion and Social Sustainability
The city of Rio de Janeiro goes through a particular period that favors the conquer of urban sustainability. Although it was eliminated from the rank of candidates to base the 2012 Olympic Games, the competition developed for people with disabilities (Paralympic Games) will be based in this city. In this way, we understand the city has to be ready to host all the athletes with some kind of disability. Accessibility, then, has a major role in the search for inclusion and social integration.
In spite of having noticed a level of consciousness towards the city of Rio de Janeiro by administrators and officers, we still find a gap in relation to a global policy that focuses tourism in an holistic way. Hence, we understand a whole view of inclusive tourism should stimulate the gathering of the differences and make opportunity for encounters, rather than removing barriers.
We assert our guide-book "Rio de Janeiro For All" enables the gathering of culture and benefits the adaptation of spaces in so far as all the accessible facilities (there listed) would change the image of the city into a healthy, conscientious and sustainable one. We expect the great social impact of this work to be an agent of spreading information on accessible facilities for people with disabilities and to allow the whole urban population to dwell with human diversity in the 'heart' of the spaces in the city.
References
COHEN, Regina. Acessibilidade, Identidade e Vida Cotidiana Urbana de Pessoas com Dificuldade de Locomoção. Master Dissertation - PROURB/FAU/UFRJ - Fevereiro de 1999.
CONADE. Parecer N. 13/2003. Assunto: Plano Nacional de Turismo. PR/CONADE, 2003.
CORDE/DF. Turismo sem Barreiras - Relatório Síntese. Secretaria de Estado de Turismo, Comissão Permanente de Acessibilidade, DF, agosto de 2003.
DUARTE, Cristiane & COHEN, Regina. People with Mobility Difficulty and Space Experience in the Cities. In: 17th Conference of the International Association for People-Environment Studies, 2002, A Coruña.
GUIMARÃES, Marcelo Pinto. Fundamentos do Barrier-Free Design, Belo Horizonte: IAB/MG, março de 1991.