Disabled Access
The UK's Disability Discrimination Act states public services should make "reasonable adjustments" to allow disabled access. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in England has suggested in this context that kissing gates and stiles should be in time replaced or supplemented by a type that would allow access to a wider range of users. These concerns have partly now been addressed. The Equality Act 2010 has superseded the Disability Discrimination Acts and Defra, in October 2010, published a guidance document "Authorising Structures on Rights of Way. Good practice guidance for local authorities on compliance with the Equality Act 2010" Defra Equality Act path structure guidance. The Pittecroft Trust, a small UK charity, has published a summary of the Defra guidance Understanding the Defra guidance. Whilst neither of these documents lay down standards for kissing gate, they do require rigorous specification of these gates. The British Standard BS5709:2006 mentioned above fulfils that requirement. The overriding requirement is for any path structure, gate or kissing gate to cause the least restriction for users, whilst still providing the necessary level of animal constraint for farm animals.
Read more about this topic: Kissing Gate
Famous quotes containing the words disabled and/or access:
“That myth—that image of the madonna-mother—has disabled us from knowing that, just as men are more than fathers, women are more than mothers. It has kept us from hearing their voices when they try to tell us their aspirations . . . kept us from believing that they share with men the desire for achievement, mastery, competence—the desire to do something for themselves.”
—Lillian Breslow Rubin (20th century)
“The last publicized center of American writing was Manhattan. Its writers became known as the New York Intellectuals. With important connections to publishing, and universities, with access to the major book reviews, they were able to pose as the vanguard of American culture when they were so obsessed with the two Joes—McCarthy and Stalin—that they were to produce only two artists, Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, who left town.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)