Council services
Role of the Access Officer
The role of the Access Officer is to raise awareness of accessibility issues, offering advice on how to improve access to the built, transport and rural environments. This encourages inclusivity and leads to full compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act and current building regulations.
Who can be affected by poor access ?
People who are:
- Wheelchair users
- Visually impaired
- Hearing impaired
- Pregnant
- frail and elderly
- needing an Assistance Dog eg Guide Dog
- laden with shopping
- pushing a buggy
- temporarily disabled - eg: have a broken leg
The Access Officer promotes access to Council properties by
- Auditing existing buildings
- Identifying restrictions to access
- Prioritising access issues
- Commissioning access improvements
The Access Officer promotes access to the wider community by
- Assessing Planning applications
- Working with the Highways department
- Developing improvement programmes with local businesses
- Working with local groups eg. Wokingham Area Access Group - WAAG
- Developing new initiatives eg. disability awareness training for taxi drivers
The Access Officer provides advice and information on Legislation
eg:
- The Disability Discrimination Act - 1995 and 2005
- The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act - 2001
- Building Regulations - Part M - 2004
- British Standard Approved Document BS8300:2001
The Access Officer offers advice on general access enquiries to
- The General public
- Employers
- Service providers
- Developers
- Architects
The Access Officer offers Disability Advice & Training for
- Any review or update of Council policies and procedures
- Any employment issues
- improvement of Disability awareness in any organisation
- Schools and The Local Education Authority - LEA
Please contact the Access Officer with any queries related to access or any of the above areas.
