New accessibility guidelines to use universal design approach

What is the News?

The Government of India will soon notify the “Draft Harmonized Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021”.

What are Harmonized Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021?

Prepared by: IIT-Roorkee and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), a think tank of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

To be Published by: Central Public Works Department (CPWD)

Revised Version of The guidelines is a revision of the Harmonized Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier-Free Built Environment for Persons with Disabilities and Elderly Persons released in 2016.

Objective of the Guidelines: To provide a conduit for the government and private construction agencies to incorporate measures for universal accessibility during all stages of construction.

Focus of the Guidelines: Earlier, the guidelines were for creating a barrier-free environment. But now they are focusing on universal accessibility.

Key Features of the Guidelines

The guidelines call for accessibility symbols for Persons with Disabilities(PwD), family-friendly facilities and transgender to be inclusively incorporated among the symbols for other user groups.

As part of the guidelines, a certification course will also be prepared. The course will be mandatory for those working on various public projects and would be open to students.

Source:  This post is based on the article “New accessibility guidelines to use universal design approach” published in The Hindu on 4th April 2022.