2.0 Arrival

2.1 Parking

For employees with physical disabilities, parking at the RBCI building may not leave the best first impression. The entrance parking lot has 3 dedicated wheelchair parking spaces. As illustrated in appendix A, there is an efficient amount of room within the designated parking spot for a person in a wheelchair to move. The main issue is that the distance from the designated parking spots to the entrance door could be improved. Appendix B illustrates the amount of space a person would have to travel from the designated parking spot to the entrance door. There are four rows of parking spaces in the parking lot. The row that has the 3 dedicated wheelchair parking spaces is the farthest from the building. This violates principle 1 of the universal design principles. Equitable use is violated in this case because employees with disabilities are at a disadvantage if they are farthest from the building. Within the functional diversity characteristics, mobility can also be improved upon. In order to perform this common task, a person with a physical disability would have to travel farther in order to reach the entrance building. A basic solution would be to modify the parking lot such that the wheelchair accessible parking spaces are in the middle two rows of the parking lot. This makes the traveling distance between the parking space and the entrance door as minimal as possible. Appendix B also illustrates that there is a small amount automobile traffic that has to be passed in order to get from the parking space to the entrance door. Thus, making a wheelchair accessible spot as close to the building as possible is safer for those who have physical disabilities.

2.2 Entrance

Upon entrance into the building, Appendix C reveals that there is a curb cut. This curb cut is wide enough to fit two wheelchairs. This particular factor is efficient because if two employees in wheelchairs needed to utilize the curb cut at the same time, they wouldn't have to wait for one another (Danford, 2004). Appendix C also illustrates that there is a small ‘lip' in between the road and the curb. Michelle Liberti Lansing points out that it is important that transitions between various floorings in an area should have smooth transitions for better mobility (Liberti-Lansing, 2006). She notes that these lips can provide a difficult time for those trying to get by using a wheelchair (Liberti-Lansing, 2006). It is important to also note that

2.3 Hallways

Once entered in to the building, Appendix D illustrates the hallway that must be walked through in order to get to any employee's workspace. As illustrated, there is a very low contrast, which makes it difficult for the visually-impaired to distinguish anything (Novitski, 2001). Brightness plays an important role in this issue. Brighter lighting would aid this issue as well as make it easier for an employee with visual impairment to travel through. In addition, the ‘caution' pylon is not placed in a sensible area. An employee in a wheelchair may find it uncomfortable to wheel around the pylon. Also, an employee with low vision or vision impairment will not expect that an object would be placed in the middle of any hallway. Although the pylon is highly contrasting to the rest of the hallway, it can still be problematic where these groups of employees are concerned. The obvious solution would be to move the pylon off to the side. This way, everyone will still see it because of its high contrast. Also, it will be far less problematic for employees in wheelchairs or with vision-impairment.

Appendix E illustrates the same hallway in Appendix D, but from the inside. Once the doors have been entered the brightness increases. This is more sufficient for those who are visually impaired. There is a higher contrast, which allows for easier vision. There is a 90-degree

2.4 Elevators

Upon entering an elevator to reach higher floors, a person in a wheelchair may experience the same discomfort that they experienced at the entrance door. The timer on the elevator doors only allows 2 seconds from the time it is fully opened until the time it begins to close. This was timed using a stopwatch and was recorded. As stated earlier, slowing down the timer would be beneficial so that employees in wheelchairs don't feel as if they have to rush.

Once the elevator reaches the main floor and the doors are about to open, it makes a beeping sound along with a flashing light. These are vital design features that benefit the vision impaired as well as the hearing impaired.

The buttons both in the hallway and in the elevator are located at a low level. This benefits employees who are in wheelchairs and employees with low motor skills and arm function. At the same time, it doesn't take away usability from employees who aren't in wheelchairs or who don't have low motor skills.

Appendix F illustrates the interface that employees must interact with when using the elevator. The buttons on the elevator interface are tactile. In addition there is Braille located directly underneath each number. The only major thing that could be improved is the contrast levels of the buttons to the rest of the elevator. Appendix F illustrates that the buttons as well as the rest of the elevator material is the same metal color. This subtracts from the strength of the design in the elevator. It provides many design features that allow for a range of abilities to use it. However, once inside, a person who has low vision may find it difficult to locate where the buttons are on the elevator. A basic remedy would be to change the color of the buttons so that there is more of a contrast when compared to the rest of the elevator.

3.0 Workspace>>