Accessibility of Public Buildings in Khulna, Bangladesh, for Wheelchair Users
Purpose: Physical accessibility is one of the fundamental rights of wheelchair users in order to ensure their integration into society. After Bangladesh ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on November 30, 2007, there has been a paradigm shift in the government’s approach to ensure the welfare and rights of persons with disabilities through legislative and policy actions. This study assesses how accommodative the public buildings are for wheelchair users in Khulna, Bangladesh.
Method: All the public buildings in Khulna city - including government offices, public schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, libraries, post offices and court buildings - were visited to assess the presence and suitability of facilities for wheelchair users, such as accessible parking, ramps, elevators, doors, and essential interior facilities like water closets and drinking-water fountains. Bangladesh has no specific accessibility guidelines document, but accessibility requirements have been included in the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) 2008. The study made its assessment using an abridged form of the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) and BNBC 2008.
Results: Only 6.7% (5) of the 75 public buildings were found suitable for wheelchair users. There is scope for modifications to be made in 28% (21) of the buildings which are currently unsuitable for wheelchair users.
Conclusion: The study revealed that public buildings are, in general, not very accommodative of wheelchair users. There is a need for modifications in infrastructure to ensure inclusive development of these individuals.
Keywords
Authors
How to Cite
Download Citation
License
Copyright © 2019 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License By-NC-ND 4.0 that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access ).
Similar Articles
- Tiun Ling Ta, Lee Lay Wah, Khoo Suet Leng, Employability of People with Disabilities in the Northern States of Peninsular Malaysia: Employers’ Perspective , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 22 No. 2 (2011): Autumn
- Shankar Ganesh, Patitapaban Mohanty, Sakti Das, Rishee Patel, Ram Naresh Pandey, Ananya Satapathy, Multidisciplinary Management of Knee Osteoarthritis using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 26 No. 4 (2015): Winter 2015
- Cornelia Schneider, Teachers’ Perceptions of Disabilities on the Island of Roatán, Honduras , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 28 No. 2 (2017): Summer 2017
- Peter Mittler, It's Our Convention: Use It or Lose It? , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 23 No. 2 (2012): Summer
- Usha Tiwari Upadhyay, Improving Well-Being, Academic Self-Concept and Academic Achievement of Indian Children with Specific Learning Disability by utilising Positive Psychology Intervention , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 32 No. 3 (2021): Autumn 2021
- Alisha M B Braun, Betty Okwako-Riekkola, Ujamaa and Universal Design: Developing Sustainable Tactile Curricular Materials in Rural Tanzania , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 29 No. 2 (2018): Summer 2018
- Huib Cornielje, The Land of Unequal Opportunities , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 32 No. 1 (2021): Spring
- Sobhan Lavasani, Nor Wahiza Abdul Wahat, Work Ability Index: Validation and Model Comparison of the Malaysian Work Ability Index (WAI) , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 27 No. 2 (2016): Summer 2016
- Miriam Mapulanga, Tafadzwa Dzinamarira, Dr Thembelihle Dlungwane, Using nominal group technique to develop a training model for community health workers in physical rehabilitation services: in-sights and perspectives from stakeholders , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 37 No. 1 (2026): Spring Issue
- Humayra Jahan, Md. Shofiqul Islam, Mohammad Sohrab Hossain, Md. Fazlul Karim Patwary, Quality of Life among Persons with Paraplegic Spinal Cord Injury , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 27 No. 3 (2016): Autumn 2016
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.