Inclusive Design Of ‘Away From Home’ (Public) Toilets in City Centres

With the implementation of Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act in October 2004, the issue of accessible ‘away from home’ toilets in city centres is likely to become more of a live issue than it already is. Disabled people should be able to demand ‘reasonable provision’ that suits their requirements. However, little knowledge exists about what ‘reasonable provision’ might entail.

Researchers at University College London hope to address this gap in knowledge by conducting user centred research in London, Manchester and Sheffield. Using focus groups (in which participants will be paid), the researchers will build ‘personas’ based on peoples’ collective experiences of accessing the city centres, finding and then using a suitable toilet.

We are looking to work with groups of 5 or 6 men and 5 or 6 women who all share similar access difficulties If you would like more information on participating in a focus group and the research project, please contact: Jo-Anne Bichard Tel: 020 7679 8224 E-mail: j.bichard@ucl.ac.uk Post: The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies UCL, (Torrington Place Site),Gower Street,London.WC1E 6BT

-- Anonymous, February 02, 2004