Beach Access: Assist Devices and Surfaces
A Research Report of the National Center of Accessibility
Table of Contents
The lives of people with disabilities have been opened to a new era,
an era of hope and opportunity. The passage of the Americans with
Disabilities Act has made the elimination of architectural and programmatic
barriers a reachable goal. Barrier-free designs for constructed facilities
have become the expectation rather than the exception.
|Beach devices tested are shown at the beach at Bradford Woods.
The advances in standards for architectural accessibility have moved
our society to a point where we can begin looking beyond built environments
toward outdoor environments to determine how people with disabilities
might be given greater opportunities to enjoy the beauty and majesty
of the outdoors. Yet, stepping out of the built environment and into
the natural environment provides greater challenges for accessibility
than ever before imagined. This is especially true of beach areas,
whether they are coastal or inland.
In response to demands for beach access brought on by the Americans
with Disabilities Act, there has been a rush to develop new products.
These products have centered on two approaches: assistive devices
and surfaces. The quick development of these products and the lack
of local distribution sites, has left individuals with disabilities
and agencies wishing to provide beach access unable to adequately
evaluate these products. Therefore, the National Center on Accessibility
undertook this study to address the need for objective comparisons
of the advantages and disadvantages of the available products.
The study was conducted at the beach on the 110 acre lake at Bradford
Woods, Indiana University's Outdoor Center, between August and October
1992 and at an ocean beach in Dade County, Florida during March and
April 1993. These sites were selected because of the differences in
environmental conditions. The sand at the Bradford Woods beach had
a coarse texture. Although an inland lake, unusually heavy rain fall
during the data collection at Bradford Woods caused significant fluctuations
in the water level of the lake and water run-offs across the beach.
The lake was sheltered by steep, forested hills, which reduced wind
blowing across the beach. The sand at Dade County, Florida had a very
fine texture. As expected, there were significant water level changes
due to the tides and ample wind blowing across the beach. Tidal changes
caused the expected water level changes at Dade County.
A total of 111 subjects participated in the study, 60 at the Indiana
site and 51 at the Florida site. The demographics of the two sites
were strikingly different, consequently, the combined demographic
results as well as those of each site are presented. The combined
sites provided a balanced distribution among the demographic variables.
Complete demographic information can be found in
Subjects ranged in age from 9 to 91 years with a mean age of 42.1
years for the combined sites. However, subjects at the Indiana site
had a mean age of 26.5 years, while the Miami subjects had a mean
age of 60.8 years. For the combined study, 50.5% of the subjects were
female. At the Indiana site 40% of the subjects were female, whereas
62.7% of the Miami subjects were female.
Impairment demographics were also very different for the two sites.
A total of 19 impairments were reported by the subjects. For the combined
sites, cerebral palsy (17), spinal cord injuries (17), spina bifida
(13), and "walking difficulty" (12) were most frequently reported
and accounted for 53.1% of the responses. There were 13 different
impairments reported in Indiana with cerebral palsy (15), spina bifida
(13), and spinal cord injury (13) accounting for 68.4% of the responses.
At the Florida site, there were 16 separate impairments reported.
Walking difficulty (11), stroke (8), and nonspecific paralysis (7)
most frequently reported and accounted for 51% of the responses.
For the combined study, 33.3% of the subjects reported having had
a disability from birth. Again, the sites were very different with
Indiana subjects significantly more likely (chi square=12.2, p<.05)
to have a disability from birth (54.9%) than subjects in Florida (8.9%).
A total of 74% of the subjects at the two sites reported using manual
(54.6%) or motorized (19.4%) wheelchairs. The remaining subjects reported
using another type of mobility assistive device (22.4%) or were ambulatory
As one indicator of subjects' physical functioning, they were asked
whether assistance was normally required to transfer into a wheelchair.
For the combined sites, 55.8% of the subjects reported they needed
no assistance to transfer or did not use a wheelchair, while 43.26%
of the subjects indicated they needed assistance in transfers(Table
1). Only slightly fewer Indiana subjects reported needing assistance
(41.7%) than did Florida subjects (45.1%).
Upon their arrival at a beach area, subjects were given the study
information sheet, the Informed Consent Form, and the Beach Access
Survey. After completing the survey, subjects were taken to the beach
area where the equipment and surfaces are located. Subjects were allowed
to view the equipment and surfaces but not use them at that time.
Subjects were asked which piece of equipment they would prefer to
use and then which surface they would prefer to use. This information
was recorded on the initial survey.
Once subjects had indicated their visual preferences, subjects were
asked to use the equipment and/or surfaces on the beach and complete
a questionnaire on each piece of equipment or surface used. When possible,
subjects used their own equipment on the beach prior to using the
test equipment. An investigator assisted those subjects who were unable
to write. If a companion accompanied and assisted the user with a
disability, the companion was asked to complete the Informed Consent
Form and a Companion Questionnaire for each piece of equipment or
surface on which he or she provided assistance.
After completing a questionnaire for each piece of equipment or surface
used, subjects were debriefed by the investigator to determine additional
thoughts on the equipment.
The results of this study are broken into two major sections: assistive
devices and surfaces.
Assistive Devices /Surfaces
Back to top