Access For All Website
(Draft Format and Content)
Home Page
Menu Bar on left of page and also across top of page, underneath banner (banner yet to be decided but will include logo). See example websites – and for an idea of general page layout and navigation.
Menu Bar to consist of:
-About Us
-Our Work
-News and Features
-Universal Access
-Reporting an Access Problem
-Links and Useful Resources
-Contact Us
Main body of Home Page will also have a short piece on Access For All, like a welcome note and maybe a few images or graphics – to be agreed.
About Us
Access For All is a network of individuals and organisations working towards making Galway City fully accessible to all people. The group was established in the early 1990’s and has been to the forefront locally in promoting universal accessibility. Our membership includes individual disability activists and a number of disability organisations.
Access For All meets as a group on a regular basis to monitor progress on agreed work and discuss local access issues as they arise. The work of the group is progressed and supported by the members themselves and also directly by a Community Development Worker from Galway City Partnership and the Access Projects Officer with Galway City Council.
Current member organisations of Access For All include Irish Wheelchair Association, NCBI, Citizens Information Board, People with Disabilities in Ireland, Galway City Partnership and Galway City Council.
Our Work
The focus of our work is primarily on environmental accessibility; that is the built environment in Galway City - buildings, streets and open spaces, parks etc. This work will often also include areas such as public transport and traffic control systems.
Access For All works closely with a range of agencies and organisations who can assist in making Galway a more accessible city. Our aim is to ensure that accessibility problems with the existing built environment are fully corrected and that all new developments are universally accessible. Basically, we are trying to make it easier for people of all abilities to get around Galway City.
We do this in a number of ways:
- Working closely with Galway City Council to monitor the ongoing development and improvement of the local built environment
- Working closely with disability organisations in identifying priority accessibility issues locally
- Promoting awareness and training of universal design within the local design and construction sector
- Developing best practice policy submissions that can inform the development of the local built environment
Examples of past and recent projects that Access For All has undertaken include:
Co-ordinating the delivery of the Universal Accessibility Auditing Programme (University of Ulster) to Local Authority staff and local architects
Development of the Disability Access Awareness Programme for students in NUIG and GMIT
Supporting Galway City Council in the ongoing delivery of its Accessibility Implementation Plan
Co-ordination of the 2007 Social Inclusion Networking Event – Making Galway an Accessible City
Accessibility survey of Galway City Bus Eireann services (in progress)
Developing a Galway City Access Map. This project, currently in progress, will see the development of an web-based map tool providing up-to-date practical information on accessibility around Galway City
Further information on Access For All projects will be posted here as projects are progressed.
News and Features
General news items and project updates will be posted in this section.
Universal Access
Universal access, sometimes also referred to as universal accessibility or universal design is the ethos by which Access For All carries out its work and activities. Universal design is defined in the Irish Disability Act 2005 as:
“Universal design refers to the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of their age, size or disability”
Universal access as a school of thought operates from the position that historically people with disabilities have been designed out of the built environment and that this has and continues to contribute to their daily exclusion from society. Put simply – good design enables people; bad design disables people.
Universal access continues to influence national policy and the work of local groups like Access For All. Good progress has been made in Ireland in recent years with the introduction of the Disability Act 2005 and the recent establishment of the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design under the auspices of the National Disability Authority.
To learn more about universal access and universal design see the following websites:
National Disability Authority (NDA) -
Centre for Accessible Environments –
Design For All Europe –
Adaptive Environments –
Reporting an Access Problem
Access For All is committed to identifying local accessibility problems on an ongoing basis. We encourage people to assist us in this work by notifying us of accessibility problems around Galway City. You can do this by completing the online form below. You can also download this form and send it to us – Report an Access Problem.
Online Form
Darren - This will simply require boxes that people can right into.
Location of the Access Problem (Please be specific):
Description of the Access Problem (Please provide as much detail as possible):
Your Contact Details (optional):
Submit button.
You can also report access problems directly to Galway City Council at:
Galway City Council
Galway City Hall
College Road
Galway
Tel: 091 536597
Email:
Opening Hours: 9.00am – 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.
Links and Useful Resources
Here you will find a list of websites of the organisations working with Access For All and other relevant organisations.
Ability West –
Access West –
AHEAD –
Assist Ireland –
Brothers of Charity –
Citizens Information Board –
DeafHear –
Disability Equality Specialist Support Agency –
Disability Federation of Ireland –
Enable Ireland –
Equality Authority –
Irish Association of Supported Employment –
Irish Deaf Society –
Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind –
Irish Wheelchair Association –
Galway Centre for Independent Living –
Galway City Council –
Galway City Partnership –
MS Ireland –
NCBI –
National Disability Authority –
People with Disabilities in Ireland –
Rehab Group –
Contact Us
Nollaig Mc Guinness
Development Worker
Tel: 091 773466
Email:
Access For All
C/o Galway City Partnership
3rd Floor The Plaza
Headford Road
Galway