6. CONCLUDING REMARKS
A system is accessible to a particular group of impaired people if, by design and operating procedures, it can be used by those people without requiring them to do anything that their impairment makes impossible. It is up to the system designer and operator to identify the functions that are made impossible by the impairments of particular user groups, and from the start design the system to avoid the need to perform those functions.
Access is limited by much more than the physical design of a system. Lack of information, lack of money and lack of confidence can all inhibit access. The complete chain of information, confidence, money, an accessible vehicle and accessible infrastructure is necessary before a journey can be made. Failure of any one link of that chain makes the whole journey impossible. And the journey is only desired if the destination is accessible and provides an activity sought by the traveller.
We are all impaired in some way or other. Designing systems to be accessible means designing them to be easy to use for as wide a spectrum of people as possible. Even though some people’s impairments probably mean that the use of mass transport systems will always be beyond them, the better the design of a system, the wider the spectrum of the population it can serve and the easier and safer it is for all its users.
Accessibility is a fundamental requirement for an inclusive society. By providing the policies, features and operating procedures that avoid requiring passengers to perform some action that is impossible for them we are showing that we treat everyone as equal and are determined that no one will be excluded.