Pavimentos Táteis em Paragens de Autocarro

O Projeto de Investigação ACCES4ALL focaliza-se em interfaces modais projetadas de acordo com o conceito de “Design Universal”. Tem como objetivo principal desenvolver um estudo piloto de uma paragem de autocarros acessível, inteligente e sustentável, a localizar numa interface multimodal. Num contexto de sustentabilidade social, os ambientes construídos inclusivos têm de garantir acessibilidade universal. Assim, as pessoas com deficiência visual necessitam de pavimentos táteis e/ou com diferenciação cromática que forneçam orientação e informação sobre os espaços e os meios de transporte. Com esta comunicação pretende-se apresentar exemplos internacionais de sistemas de encaminhamento, através de pavimentos táteis, em paragens de autocarro, tendo-se recorrido a pesquisa bibliográfica e realizado desenhos técnicos. Os resultados indicam que existe uma grande diversidade de soluções técnicas de encaminhamento tátil no ambiente construído, recomendando-se a necessidade de harmonização de soluções podotáteis no mundo, considerando um contexto de Turismo Acessível.Palavras-chave: Turismo Acessível. Acessibilidade universal. Ambiente construído. Paragens de autocarro. Pavimentos táteis. Pessoas com deficiência visual. Tactile Floors at Bus StopsABSTRACTThe ACCES4ALL research project focuses on modal interfaces designed according to the concept of "Universal Design". Its main objective is to develop a pilot study of an accessible, smart and sustainable bus stop to be located at a multimodal interface. In a context of social sustainability, inclusive built environments must guarantee universal accessibility. Thus, people with visual disability need tactile and/or chromatically differentiated pavements that provide orientation and information about spaces and means of transport. This paper intends to present international examples of guiding systems, through tactile surfaces, at bus stops, having resorted to bibliographic research and technical drawings. The results indicate that there is a great diversity of technical solutions for tactile routing in the built environment, recommending the need for harmonization of podotactile solutions in the world, considering an Accessible Tourism context. Keywords: Accessible Tourism. Universal accessibility. Built environment. Bus stops. Tactile surfaces. People with visual disability.

Organization's strategies to improve implementation of universal accessibility principles: protocol of scoping review (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Since the publication of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, several countries have adopted laws, policies, and action plans to improve the universal accessibility of environments to improve inclusion and social participation of all citizens. Different organizations are involved in the application of these measures. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study is to identify strategies that are contextually appropriate and that provide guidelines for organizations to promote successful implementation of universal accessibility. METHODS We will conduct a scoping review identifying implementation strategies of universal accessibility measures in local organizations using the Arksey and O’Malley framework. We will search in Medline, CINHAL, Urban Studies Abstracts, ABI Inform and Social Sciences Full Text, from 2006 until today, following the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Two reviewers will independently select studies for inclusion and extract the data. A descriptive and thematic analysis of the characteristics of the identified implementation strategies will be performed using the NVivo software. RESULTS No results have been available so far CONCLUSIONS We will present characteristics of studies and outcomes of implementation strategies in all included studies in a table. The results of this scoping review are expected to help research community in various fields, local organizations, and stakeholders to identify better ways to improve implementation strategies of universal accessibility practices.

Is there an imbalance in the supply and demand for universal accessibility knowledge? Twenty years of UAIS papers viewed through the lens of WCAG

Purpose: Some universal accessibility practitioners have voiced that they experience a mismatch in the research focus and the need for knowledge within specialized problem domains. This study thus set out to identify the balance of research into the main areas of accessibility, the impact of this research, and how the research profile varies over time and across geographical regions. Method: All UAIS papers indexed in Scopus were analysed using bibliometric methods. The WCAG taxonomy of accessibility was used for the analysis, namely perceivable, operable, and understandable. Results: The results confirm the expectation that research into visual impairment has received more attention than papers addressing operable and understandable. Although papers focussing on understandable made up the smallest group, papers in this group attracted more citations. Funded research attracted fewer citations than research without funding. The breakdown of research efforts appears consistent over time and across different geographical regions. Researchers in Europe and North America have been active throughout the last two decades, while Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Middle East became active in during the last five years. There is also seemingly a growing trend of out-of-scope papers. Conclusions: Based on the findings, several recommendations are proposed to the UAIS editorial board.

Participatory Management to Improve Accessibility in Consolidated Urban Environments

There is a wide range of regulations on universal accessibility, but our cities are still inaccessible in many cases. Most accessibility problems in cities occur in consolidated areas that were developed prior to the development of current accessibility regulations. This leads to consider the importance of focusing more effort on managing the improvement of the accessibility of existing public urban environments. As such, the objective of this research is to design a conceptual model for accessibility management in consolidated urban environments. Unlike other research focusing on city users to collect information on accessibility problems or to provide services to improve wayfinding, this method has a focus on urban accessibility managers. The model is based on the assessment of the level of accessibility of urban environments together with the assessment of management processes in which city users are actively involved. It consists of a set of basic indicators for the identification of accessible pedestrian routes, and provides a dynamic accessibility index for the evaluation of their efficient management by the responsible governments. The inclusion of this assessment framework in the management process itself enables the necessary improvement actions to be identified and taken in time. ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) provide the communication channel between the responsible governments and city users, making this a more dynamic and efficient management model based on assessment possible.

Evaluation of prenatal care according to indicators for the Prenatal and Birth Humanization Program

Objectives: to evaluate prenatal care provided to low-risk pregnant women users of the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) (Public Health System) in the city of Joinville, SC. Methods: this is a cross-sectional observational study carried out from March 2018 to February 2019, through interview and analysis of the Pregnant Card of puerperal over 18 years old, from Joinville, who underwent prenatal care at SUS, excluding recent given up puerperal. Prenatal care was evaluated according to the recommended criteria by the Prenatal and Birth Humanization Program. Results: 683 mothers were interviewed. The criteria with the highest levels of adequacy were accessibility (99.6%), early initiation on prenatal care (92.7%) and 6 or more consultations (87.1%) and the criteria with the lowest rates of adequacy were the set of guidelines (17.7%) and the third and first trimester exams (42.5% and 63.5% respectively). Conclusion: it is concluded that the prenatal care provided by SUS in the city of Joinville, despite the almost universal accessibility, the early onset and the prevalence of puerperal women with more than 6 consultations, showed a sharp decline in the analysis of the recommended indicators.

Ethical Issues Linked to the Development of Telerehabilitation: A Qualitative Study

While telerehabilitation (TR) makes it possible to respond to many significant health system problems, TR still gives rise to debates, particularly concerning ethical issues. This qualitative study collected the opinions of stakeholders with varied profiles. A guided interview focused on discerning strategies that might foster the ethical deployment of TR. Such strategies were found to be linked to the decision-making of the public authorities, the role of scientific and professional bodies, the training of health professionals, and the management of patient information. Ethical issues relating to the development of TR included universal accessibility, patients’ free choice, respect of privacy, and professional confidentiality. The ethical development of TR can be fostered by the provision of information to stakeholders as well as reminding practitioners of the ethical framework that regulates medical practice.

Accessibility Experience Design (AxD): A Bi-directional Accessibility Perspective for e-Business Services

This chapter proposes the idea of accessibility experience design for e-business services, as a bi-directional accessibility perspective for e-business growth in market share. The study is based on the needs for social justice, inclusion, and access on one hand, and business profit on the other. e-Business services have continued to grow with advancement of web and mobile business applications, which give better access to customers and influence the public. Awareness of the need for universal accessibility, to the services which are progressively being offered online, has also increased. Recently, accessibility policies and regulations have become more visible. However, even with the current COVID-19 situation and the shift to online mode, e-business services still lag in web and document accessibility. The resultant loss of access to the sub-population of impaired people results in missed business and market expansion opportunities. Therefore, this chapter explores the current drivers of accessibility practices, adoption by e-business services, and their market implications. The bi-directional accessibility perspective is proposed through the notion of accessibility experience design. The chapter is based on secondary research, which is complimented with demographic analysis of existing population data sets.