Testing Facilities

[Anchor Lead]

There are a range of facilities that help disabled people move about, although not all have been effective. Public employees posing as people with disabilities are field testing facilities themselves to correct the shortcomings.

[Pkg]

Public employees overseeing building construction played the part of the disabled to experience the facilities here. This restroom for the disabled has hardly enough room for a wheelchair to move about. This ramp at a public building meets the legal standards, but it's still hard for a person in a wheelchair to go up.

[Soundbite] Kim Bo-ram(Public Employee Supervising Building Construction) : "It's too steep. It would be easier to climb a more gradual incline."

By using a white cane, this government employee learns how to make it more convenient for the disabled people to walk along the tactile paving or navigate the surrounding areas.

[Soundbite] Kim Seong-woo(Public Employee Supervising Building Construction) : "I can't see anything. I'm just tapping on the ground and afraid that I might bump into something."

Which designs can be used with ease by both disabled and non-disabled people? The area underneath a wash basin or a kitchen sink should be left open for a wheelchair and the height should be easily adjustable. When opening a door there should be enough space to accommodate the width of a wheelchair so both disabled and non-disabled people can use it conveniently.

[Soundbite] Park Seung-ni(Person with Disability) : "It's a space where I don't feel disabled and all people can use together."

The provincial government of Gyeonggi-do plans to recommend applying these designs in a training program for its employees in charge of building construction.