The Department of Transport's current policy is to encourage owners and operators to build in as much accessibility for all passengers as possible when building or acquiring new vessels. However, there are some vessels that are not accessible now and which will be challenging to make accessible because of cost and operational difficulties. The size and age of the vessel and the nature of services provided will impact the operator's ability to improve accessibility for passengers with reduced mobility.
Where there is less than full accessibility in such vessels, it is the policy of the Department of Transport to encourage and support a phased approach to better access. Operators should work towards phased implementation of improvements in accessibility over the short, medium and long term, including non-structural improvements, such as, the use of colour contrast, signage and so on.
There are many opportunities available to vessel operators to improve accessibility for passengers with reduced mobility. Many of these improvements will also help other users of these vessels, including older people, parents with children in buggies and people who are temporarily disabled due to injury or illness.
An accessible vessel must have as a minimum:
A formal access audit should be conducted by an accessibility expert with a track record of auditing in the transport area. The auditor should be briefed appropriately to ensure that he or she understands the particular conditions that exist in each maritime transport environment. The operator should work with the auditor during the audit to ensure the audit report and recommendations present an accurate picture of the current situation and a realistic path towards best possible accessibility. Operators should ensure that their operational personnel fully participate in the auditing process.
As a result of the auditing process operators should draw up plans with defined timescales for upgrading their service and to provide an improved level of accessibility. They should regularly review access for passengers with reduced mobility (perhaps using the experiences of people with a range of impairments) and invite passengers with reduced mobility to try out the service. Initially, this might best be done during off-peak periods to find out what problems they experienced.
The ideal opportunity to ensure accessibility for all customers at minimal incremental cost is when the operator is building or buying a new vessel. When operators are planning to upgrade services by commissioning a new vessel or upgrading existing vessels, they can seek advice on how best to build in accessibility from the Marine Survey Office, from accessibility experts, and from passengers with reduced mobility. This will help ensure that the requirements or design specification gives appropriate priority to accessibility issues, and that any limitations or accessibility issues encountered on existing vessels are addressed, where practicable.
It may not be possible or practical to address barriers such as narrow passageways or door sills at reasonable costs or because of particular requirements in the vessel's construction. Where it is not possible to remove these barriers, details should be included in the pre-journey information for the customer. This will allow the customer to make an informed decision about proceeding with their journey.
Vessel operators should review the accessibility of the following aspects of their vessels with accessibility experts and passengers with reduced mobility, and implement appropriate improvements.
The interface between ship and shore is critical to provision of good disability access and is the area most often found wanting. There are some unique challenges to accessibility in this area, including wet surfaces, slippery surfaces (from seaweed and algae), exposed locations (strong winds and rain), wide tidal variations and movement caused by waves and swells. Typically a gangway is used for foot passenger access on and off the vessel. The design of the passenger gangway is particularly important with respect to:
On car ferries (Ro-Ro vessels), foot passengers and wheelchair users may board via the bow or stern car ramps. Clear signage and clear marking of walkways is essential to ensure safe segregation of foot passengers from vehicles. When implementing such access systems, operators must address the particular issues of passengers with reduced mobility - for example, passengers with failing sight may be at increased risk due to vehicle movements in shared passenger and vehicle areas.
Many passengers with reduced mobility choose to travel independently but may have difficulties in getting around a vessel due to barriers such as:
Vessel operators should aim to ensure that all passengers can move around the vessel independently. As far as possible, the provision and construction of ramps, stairs and lifts should be configured to give access to all passengers. In practice, it may be very difficult to achieve all these aims on existing vessels or on smaller vessels. However, there are still many practical approaches that can be taken to improve accessibility at reasonable cost. These include fitting handrails or grab rails repainting existing handrails to improve visibility, and reorganising seats and other fittings to create more space.
Having well-designed handrails available along steps and ramps will greatly improve the accessibility of these for many people, including passengers with reduced mobility. The shape and material of the handrail should be comfortable to grip, even in cold weather. The handrail should contrast against the colour of the background, and should be turned in at either end so it doesn't catch on clothing or baggage. Handrails should also extend beyond the top and bottom of stairs to improve usability. Appropriate handrails will greatly improve the accessibility of passageways and corridors too. A practical example of this would be the fitting of highly visible hand-holds, similar to those fitted on modern trains, at the back and outer edge of seating situated along walkways.
It may also be possible to change floor surfaces to improve slip-resistance. Clear signage with non-glare surfaces, strongly contrasting colours, and with tactile lettering (ideally also in Braille) will help everyone to find their way around the vessel, and will give easier access to facilities such as bathrooms and the coffee shop. Operators should be aware that home made signs, such as laminated sheets printed from a computer, can be problematic, and for a variety of reasons:
Where there is a risk that a passenger might bump his or her head off any structural fixtures or fittings, these hazards should be clearly marked, and ideally padded to prevent injury.
Cleanliness and good housekeeping are of particular importance to passengers with reduced mobility because they may have to touch more things than other people do, in order to get extra support or directional guidance. Keeping walkways clear and tidy is particularly important in relation to those with a vision impairment.
Operators should aim to ensure that passengers with reduced mobility can enjoy their journey to the same extent as other passengers. There should be a mix of types of seating available. Seating should contrast in tone and colour to the background, to ensure that it is visible to those with impaired vision. Some customers will need seats with arm-rests, to help them to get into and out of the seat. For other customers, arm-rests will present a barrier. Some wheelchair users may want to transfer out of the wheelchair into a standard chair for the duration of the journey. For other wheelchair users, availability of suitable restraints to ensure that their chair is clamped or strapped down securely, adjacent to other seats, will be important (particularly on high-speed vessels) to allow them to enjoy the journey with their companions.
It is recommended that at least 4 per cent of the vessel's passenger seats should be suitable for passengers with reduced mobility. Such passengers may be more vulnerable to the effects of bad weather than other customers, so the location of dedicated seating for passengers with reduced mobility should be chosen carefully and close to the entrances/exits and within easy reach of evacuation routes.
For vessels with passenger cabins, a number of cabins should be available to meet the needs of wheelchair users. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) circular MSC/Circ 735 of 24/06/1996 provides further details on the design of such cabins.
The importance of accessible toilet facilities will depend on the duration of the journey, and the availability of accessible toilet facilities at the port or terminal facilities at the start and end of the journey. While toilet facilities on board smaller vessels would not traditionally have sufficient space to be usable by wheelchair users, there are still many opportunities for vessel operators to improve the accessibility of toilet facilities. Grab rails are very important in a toilet facility, particularly when the vessel is in motion, possibly in rough sea conditions. Fittings such as taps and hand-driers should be designed to be usable by everybody. Taps with lever fittings are best, and hand-driers and towels should be positioned within easy reach. An emergency alarm should be available to enable passengers to summon help in case of difficulty.
When commissioning a new vessel, availability of accessible toilet facilities should be a priority requirement.
It is essential that all customers are kept informed about any safety issues or procedures that might arise during the journey. Safety information should be available in a variety of ways. Safety information cards should use a font size of at least 14 point and should be located to ensure they are available to all passengers. The colour of the text should contrast strongly against the background (for example, black text against a white background). Use of symbols and simple diagrams can help people with poor literacy or people for whom English or Irish is not their first language. For customers with little or no vision, it may be necessary to convey this information by an audible announcement or directly on a one-to-one basis. For passengers who are Deaf or hard of hearing, safety information needs to be communicated in a visual format.
Where announcements are made over a public address system, care should be taken that these announcements are clear and concise. Operators should be conscious that many customers will not have a basic understanding of maritime terminology, so terms such as port or starboard should be avoided.
Passengers with reduced mobility (particularly wheelchair users) may need additional space when getting in or out of their cars. They may also need more time to travel to and from the car deck than other drivers or passengers. Operators should take this into account when making on-board announcements for passengers to return to their cars.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) published guidelines relating to disability access on vessels. However, these are now over ten years old, are quite general in nature, and apply particularly to larger internationally trading ships. In the UK the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) has produced very useful guidance documents (available on their website) dealing with the design and operation of both large and small vessels and the supporting shore infrastructure for maritime transport. For more information, see below at 6.8 - Where to go next.
Because of the diverse nature of maritime transport in Ireland and because there is little standardisation of vessels or their support infrastructure, it is not particularly useful to consider one-size-fits-all advice or guidance to be definitive. It is better to use the available reference material as a basis for conducting access audits and thereby identifying the particular local problems and issues that serve as barriers to access for passengers with reduced mobility.
Vessel operators should review the following areas to start removing barriers for passengers with reduced mobility:
The National Adult Literacy Agency has produced guidelines Writing and Design Tips on how to make documents easier to read. For more information on this document visit their website http://www.nala.ie