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Getting Around: Physical Accessibility of Spaces: Home

This guide provides information and resources about design and technology for mobile accessibility.

This guide will go over mobile accessibility, including researching assistive technology, accessible building design and mobility aids.

Need more resources on disabilities or assistive technology?

Equal Access vs. Equitable Access

The accessibility goal of all services and places should be to provide equitable, rather than equal access to services and places.

An example of equal access to a building would be that an abled-bodied person can enter a building which has stairs to its main entrance. A person who uses a wheelchair can also enter the building, but must enter the building through a back entrance that has a ramp.

An example of equitable access would be for all of the entrances in the building to have both stairs and a ramp.

This image provides a visual example of the equal and equitable difference:

On the left an image of three people, one tall, one medium height, and one short, who all have one box to stand on at a baseball game, but one of the people still can't see the game. The word equal is on that side of the photo. On the right the tall person doesn't have a box, the medium heigh person, has one box, and the short person has two boxes. All can see the baseball game. The word equitable is on that image.

Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library

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