Playgrounds for All - Assessing Accessibility

Playgrounds for All

Cindy Burkhour, M.A., CTRS, CPRP

Introduction

Play is important to the social and physical development of all children. Children with and without disabilities need to climb, rock, swing, slide, pretend, socialize, balance, build strength, test their abilities, spin, dig, splash, and have fun. When children with and without disabilities play together, they learn to appreciate each others’ abilities and similarities.

Children are not the only benefactors of accessible design in play areas. When playground surfaces are accessible, parents with disabilities can move around the playground in order to support and interact with their children as they play. Accessible routes in and around the play area also help parents without disabilities, particularly those pushing younger siblings in strollers, and grandparents who may have a difficult time walking on loose, uneven or unstable surfaces while playing with their grandchildren. Good universal design is a benefit to adults and children alike.

Because children with disabilities are increasingly included in child care with other children in their neighborhood, in local schools and community recreation programs such as summer playground programs, accessible play areas are a necessity.

Planning for Accessible Play Areas

The reality is that children with disabilities live in every community. Find out who they are and have conversations with them about what type of playground would be usable and fun. Children with and without disabilities and their families have very similar expectations for safe, challenging, social, physical, imaginary, and interactive play experiences.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) says that all new and altered play areas will be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. The ADA Accessibility Guidelines give the technical (how to build it) and scooping (when and where) provisions to make play areas accessible to and usable by children with disabilities. To really understand you should get a copy of the requirements, read the rules, the preamble and the appendix and use them to guide you throughout the entire planning process. Be able to defend your ideas and designs within the parameters of these requirements and require the designer or playground manufacture representative to do the same, to insure you have not only met the requirements, but really have created a play area for ALL children. And don't forget the parents in your designs. Parents with disabilities need to be able to move around the playground in order to support and interact with their children as they play. In fact I encourage you to invite participation by parents of children with disabilities in the planning process. Find out which kinds of play components would be most useable and of interest to their child.

Choosing Fun Accessible Activities

Select different types of play components that can provide a wide variety of comparable experiences. Remember, some children walk using assistive mobility devices such as crutches, walkers or canes, and others use wheelchairs. Some children who use wheelchairs can also walk, crawl or scoot along when out of their chairs, whereas others need assistance while out of their chairs. Some children who use walkers, crutches or canes choose not to abandon their assistive mobility devices to crawl or scoot along a play structure where other children are walking; some children who use wheelchairs choose not to get out of their chairs to crawl, drag or scoot along where others walk or climb.

Sometimes, children do not have the strength or skills to move around unassisted; the experience they are trying to achieve is not worth the effort required to move around without assistance, or it may not be “cool” to crawl while others walk or run.
Subsequently, choose activities that can be experienced while using a wheelchair or assistive mobility device. Choose activities that are physical and social, that can be played alone or with other children. Choose opportunities to rock, spin, play interactive games, swing, slide, make sounds and music, balance, climb, dig, crawl, scoot, bounce, etc.

Here are some questions to help determine if a play component is accessible to and useable by kids with a variety of abilities. The big question is… can kids get to it…get onto or into it…, do it…, get off from it… and go on to the next fun thing to do and eventually get back to wherever they started or left their assistive device?

• Can it be accessed in different ways, such as from the side or end?

• Does accessible surfacing allow for easy entry and exit?

• Is there a route connected to the other accessible play components?

Rocking experiences: Are there transfer supports, such as handles or other gripping devices? Is the seat space free of obstructions such as raised backs or sides that would impede a transfer from a wheelchair or climbing on once the kiddo has let go of their assistive device? What types of seating support and single/multiple user options are available? Can the rocker be used alone and with others? Is the rocker located near other rockers so that the kids can have social interaction? Is the surface accessible so a child in a wheelchair can get to it, to get on it?
Swinging experiences: In which directions do the swings go… to and fro or spinning around? What types of seating support, like backs and single/multiple user options are available? Does the swing support the body? Can kids sit or lay on it? And is the surface accessible so a child in a wheelchair can get to it, to get on it?

Sliding experiences: Are there a variety of accessible slides, such as short straight slides, high spiral slides, tube slides, double slides, wavy or bumpy slides? Can kids get to the getting on point using their wheelchair or walker by a ramp and is there a transfer system at the top of the slide to make getting onto the slide easy? Does the slide end where there is accessible surface and a route back to where they got on? Is there a place near the slide end to leave an assistive device with transfer steps up to the top of the slide, so when they slide down their chair or walker is near by?

Climbing experiences: How many footholds are there and where are they? Is there a variety of climbing shapes and angles? Is the climber shaped so it can support parts of the body while climbing up or down? Is the surface accessible so a child in a wheelchair can get to it, to get on it and off it at the other end?

Accessible Design

Entry Points & Seats: Play components, such as slides, spring rockers or swings must be at a transferable height. The entry point or seat height must be a minimum of 11 inches and a maximum of 24 inches above the required clear ground or floor space (that’s the place a child could leave their chair or walker). This play component must also have a means of support for transfer, such as hand holds or gripping surfaces to help a child move onto the play component.

Play Tables: Heights and Clearances: Kids need to be able to pull up and under any play tables and reach all the stuff to do like the water spout on a water table. This space must be at least 24” high so knees slide right under.

Reach Ranges: Interactive features of accessible play components, such as game panels, sound walls, raised sand and/or water tables, and pretend play props should be within the reach ranges of children using wheelchairs. For example components no higher than 36 inches and no lower than 20 inches for children ages 2 to 5 are reachable by most kids. For play components designed for use by children ages 5 to 12, reach ranges no higher than 40 inches and no lower than 18 inches work for most kids using wheelchairs and kids who are standing and don’t have disabilities.

Maneuvering Space and Clear or Ground Space: A play component must have a maneuvering space (measuring 60 inches by 60 inches) so a kiddo using a wheelchair can get there, play, turn around and go on to something else and a clear ground space (measuring 30 inches by 48 inches) to sit or stand in to play with the component or leave an assistive device parked in while on the play component (like next to the spring rocker or swing); these spaces must be on the same level as the accessible play component and can overlap.

Accessible Route: The accessible route gets you to the play area and onto the play surface and to the accessible play components. The accessible play components must be connected to the accessible route at both entry and exit points, which is particularly important when children traverse the play component. For example, children get on the slide from a deck on a play structure and get off the slide on the ground. If the child arrives to the top of the slide by a ramp, transfers onto the slide leaving his or her chair on the deck, and slides to the ground, the slide end must connect to an accessible route so that the wheelchair can be brought to him or her. If the slide ends in the sand, there is no way to bring the child’s walker or wheelchair to him or her.

Surfacing: In the play area the route surface must be both accessible (firm and stable) and resilient (safe). Some loose-fill materials, such as sand and pea gravel are definitely not accessible. Other loose-fill materials, such as manufactured wood fibers, can be accessible if maintained to be level at all times even under swings and ends of slides. Significant ongoing maintenance is needed to rake, roll & compact top surface material to maintain transfer heights at component exits and under swings where the loose-fill material is kicked out of place. Loose-fill materials must be contained by a border which must have more than one opening to allow for accessible routes onto the play area surface. When there is a combination of loose-fill and unitary surfaces (like mats), special care must be taken so there are no trip/tip hazards at the transition point between the two surfaces. The edges of the unitary surface must be sloped, no steeper than a ramp (8.33%/1:12) and end below grade then the loose-fill material brought up to be level with the unitary surface so there is not a tip hazard at this transition point. The loose-fill material must also be kept off the unitary surface so that it does not obstruct the accessible route.

New surface products, such as ADA Play Surface have been developed using a loose recycled rubber base, contained and covered, to keep it in place and make it accessible, with a unitary top mat. These new products require little ongoing upkeep and may last longer than loose-fills that are not top-dressed with an accessible covering. Unitary manufactured rubber mats, poured-in-place rubber surfacing materials and surfaces like the ADA Play Surface system may be more costly initially, but all require very little upkeep over time and may last longer.

Creating Accessible Playgrounds

Countering Opposition

• “We do not have children with disabilities in the community.” Statistically, more than 15% of the people in our communities have disabilities. If you don’t currently serve children with disabilities, you will.

• “It is too costly.” With planning, an accessible play area makes the play environment more enjoyable for everyone and is not necessarily more expensive if you make good choices of accessible play components, accessible surfacing and organize the fun stuff to do in ways that make it easy to get from here to there and back for ALL kids.

Pointers on Good Play Design

• Is there an accessible route: to-on-through-off-back?

• Is there an equitable number and variety of experiences for all children? If so, show which ground-level and elevated components are accessible, describe how they meet the criteria, and how children can access them.

• Identify the accessible activities that are physical and social and indicate the equity of opportunities at both elevated and ground levels.

• Identify the activities for children who cannot or choose not to leave their wheelchairs.

• Identify how the design of individual play components and the placement in the layout of the structure meet the technical and scoping provisions of the rule.

• Ask the developers to sign an agreement stating that they agree to comply with ADA standards and will correct any problems.

Advocacy

Child care programs and parents of children with disabilities must continue to work closely with manufacturers and designers to create playgrounds that comply with the ADA and provide an accessible environment for all children. People who serve children need to invite and welcome kids with disabilities. If you build it they will come and you will be successful because… you care for children, ALL children, it’s what you do & do so well!

For a copy of the Accessibility Guidelines for Play Facilities, contact the Access Board at (202) 272-5434 or visit its Web site at www.access-board.gov.

About the Author

Cindy Burkhour, M.A., CTRS, CPRP, has consulted with municipal, county and state agencies as well as school districts, private industries and advocacy organizations throughout the country and is a former director of parks, recreation, & therapeutic recreation services in her home town. Cindy served on the U.S. Access Board Regulatory Committees on Access to Play Facilities and Access to Outdoor Developed Areas. She has written several resource guides, including “Access Recreation: Creating Access to Community Recreation Opportunities for ALL Kids!” for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Cindy has been active in working with persons with disabilities her entire life. She has a sibling, who has multiple physical and mental impairments and she is also the parent of a child who faces a variety of challenges after experiencing several massive strokes. She advocates professionally and personally for the rights of ALL people to be included in all aspects of community life.

Cynthia Kay Burkhour, MA, CTRS, CPRP
Inclusive Recreation Consultant,
Access Recreation Group, LLC & ADA Play Surface, LLC
2454 Lamplighter Drive, Jenison, MI 49428
ph/fax 616-669-9109 mobile 616-560-2378