In order to enhance accessibility in the built environment, it is essential to have tools that can identify and make it easier to remove existing barriers.
AVLA - Certificate of Accessibility - is an easy-to-use application that, taking in consideration a wide spectrum of disabilities, examines different categories of barriers and measures the degree of accessibility of buildings and public spaces.
The AVLA team started with a fundamental principle: it's not enough to eliminate "a step" to make a space suitable for everyone. The assessment requires a qualitative analysis, and it should include physical, semantic, and cultural barriers.
In practical terms, AVLA employs an algorithm that automatically evaluates multiple aspects, both regulatory and practical, regarding an object's accessibility status.
A graphic representation of immediate comprehension/reading, segmented by type of obstacle, helps to visualize the existing barriers: whether motor, auditory, or visual. Following the survey phase, there is a follow-up to assess the interventions in order to develop strategies and work towards improving mobility.
The application's final document is a certificate that outlines the level of accessibility and offers practical assistance in selecting investments. This tool can be helpful to public, private, commercial organizations, or real estate buyers and sellers who recognize accessibility as a value-adding element and a parameter for real estate valuation.
An accessible city, with its buildings and public spaces, is a city that welcomes all in the same way, guaranteeing same conditions to the whole population. It is a place that conveys principles of inclusion and equality and AVLA is designed to disseminate this message explicitly.
Idea and development:
Baires Raffaelli architect (I)
Details:
Research in collaboration with the University of Rome Sapienza
Partners:
Bluenet
