On the other hand, efforts to improve the accessibility of the disabled to public buildings have been reported by several authors and orga- nizations (National Committee for the Disabled of the ministry of Social Affairs et al., 1998; Groce, 1999; Jones & Tamari, 1999). Full access for these people can be achieved through “barrier-free design” which eliminates barriers to access for all potential users (Jones & Tamari, 1997; Acheson, Cohen, & Hasselkus, 1991). The improvement of accessibility of disabled people in restaurants has been studied by several authors (Bowman & Marzouk, 1992; Fernie, Griggs, Holliday, & Topper, 1994). In fact, Olkin (2002) adopted a physiological viewpoint including three core concepts of disability such as the framing of disability from three models (moral, medical and social models), the ways in which disability is similar and dissimilar other groups issues, and the language that is used to describe disability. Owens, Hoffman and Kumar (1996) proposed an ergonomic perspective based on several components such as exclusivity, safety and reasonableness of accommodation in terms of accessibility for people with disability.

Our group began to work with the quality concept in University restaurants in the 1990s (Soriano, Rico, Moltó, & Mañes, 2000a; Soriano, Moltó, & Mañes, 2000b). To date, the accessibility for the disabled in university restaurants has not been studied because the University of Valencia Service for the Disabled had worked with the disabled people in our University. For this reason, our group applied this definition to the accessibility of the disabled in University establishments as a searching for total quality. The objective of the present study was the elimination of discriminatory infrastructural barriers to access of the disabled to University restaurants.

TABLE 1 :
Incidence of the disabled during three academic years at the University of Valencia
Taux d’étudiants handicapés au cours des trois années universitaires à l’Université de Valencia

TABLE 2 :
Frequency of architectural elements for the disabled in nineteen University restaurants
Nombre d’équipements adaptés pour les étudiants handicapés fréquentant les 19 restaurants universitaires

Three of the evaluated University restaurants had no appropriate aids for the disabled, while the remaining sixteen had some aids. In the latter establishments, access problems for the disabled were alleviated as follows:

1 / Ramps in fourteen establishments (87.5% (14/16)): all of them were designed to improve routes that were inaccessible due to differences in level. The minimum width of the ramps is 0.90 m. and the maximum slope is 1:20 and their surfaces are hard and non-slip and there is a protective handrail along the full length of the ramps. Travers (1991) suggested that the gradient of ramps should be 1:20 and should not exceed 1:12 (for short ramps). Furthermore, the ramp width should be sufficient to accommodate all wheelchairs (at least 870 mm between handrails).

2 / Elevators in four establishments (25% (4/16)): all of them were designed to provide the correct dimensions for disabled people. The elevators should measure 1.00 m.×1.30 m. as the minimum internal dimensions, allowing for one wheelchair passenger alone and the panel control must be located from 0.90 m. to 1.20 m. from the floor with control buttons in an accessible location, operable with one hand, arranged horizontally and well-illuminated according to National Committee for the Disabled of the ministry of Social Affairs et al. (1998).

3 / Handrails in one establishment (6.25% (1/16)): These were installed for the safety of all people, especially those with mobility problems and were mounted between 0.85 m. and 0.95 m. above the finished floor level.

These architectural elements were installed to make University restaurants accessible to the disabled, and these characteristics are recommended by the National Committee for the disabled of ministry of Social Affairs et al. (1998). Some establishments had more than one architectural element for this purpose. Two establishments had ramps and elevators, whilst another had elevators and handrails. Furthermore, all access doors to University restaurants are equipped with lever handles or are designed so that tight grasping and twisting of the wrist are unnecessary. On the other hand, three establishments had no accessibility for disabled persons. A study was carried out and the nature of access problems was identified; all three had inaccessible building entrances and routes that involved differences between levels and insufficient space for ramps or an elevator. These problems were solved with platform lifts (also known as stairway lifts or wheelchair lifts) with a lateral kind of operating system because a minimum stair width of 0.90 m is needed for the installation of a platform lift consisting of a railing, an electric generator and a moving platform. Moreover, the platform can be folded when not in use.

During, the second year of our study, one of these three esta- blishments improved its accessibility and the remaining two esta- blishments alleviated the problems of accessibility in the last year of the study

Furthermore, to complete this study interviews were carried out with the disabled people to find out their opinions about the new accessibility to these establishments. All the disabled persons agreed that the university restaurants had improved their access. Furthermore, they suggested that other improvements could be carried out, for example, in the bathroom and the table that could be lowered to wheelchair level. As a consequence further improvements are being implemented.

Paper received: april 2002.

Accepted by J. Patrick in revised form: december 2002.