Playground Guide - 2019 - 23

Imagine being 7 years old and
wanting to go play at the local park
with your friends. Sounds like fun,
right? Unfortunately, you can't go, because you use a wheelchair, and the
playground's surface is not accessible
to you. This is a well-known feeling
for many children with disabilities.
Outside of a moral belief in creating inclusive environments for all
people, why do we need to ensure
playgrounds are accessible for children with disabilities? Legally, the
Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) requires that playgrounds
provide a public play area that's free
from discrimination on the basis of
disability. This means that access for
the public, including children, parents and grandparents with disabilities, is protected by the ADA.
In 2010, the ADA's Standards for
Architectural Design, which requires
disability access to a set number of
ground-level and elevated play components, was implemented to make it
easier for individuals with disabilities
to access play equipment. In addition
to the playground equipment, paths,
routes and other trails leading to the
play area must also be accessible.
For instance, ground-level play components must have a turning space,
a level, clear space next to them and
entry points between 11 inches and
24 inches above the ground. The surface characteristics of the accessible
route and of clear and turning spaces,
where that surface is within use zones,
is the most challenging provision of
the ADA standards for play areas.

Playground Surfaces
If you have ever tried to push a
stroller at the beach, you know how
difficult it is to use a wheelchair
on sand or other loose surface materials. Similarly, if you have ever
worried about your vehicle's brakes
going out on a steep hill, you can
imagine how scary it might be to
lose control of a wheelchair on a
hilly concrete path. These are some
of the reasons, though not stated in
so many words, the ADA standards
specify and necessitate the presence
of the following three categories of
surfaces within playgrounds:

ponent and entry points to elevated
play structures. Any number of materials, such as concrete or asphalt,
when properly installed with compliant running and cross slopes, can
provide an accessible surface.

If you have ever tried to push
a stroller at the beach, you
know how difficult it is to use
a wheelchair on sand or other
loose surface materials.

Safe Surfaces

Safe and Accessible Surfaces

Colliding with hard surfaces at high
speeds can cause traumatic head
injuries. As evaluated by the ADA,
safe surfaces must meet head injury
criterion (HIC) requirements to help
prevent moderate-to-severe head injuries from collisions. In " use zones "
- the areas where children can potentially fall from play components
- the surfaces must meet HIC values to comply with the ADA's " safe "
surface standards. However, not all
surfaces within a playground are required to be safe, and not all surfaces within use zones are required to
be accessible.

This is the most difficult category
to understand and to implement.
For a playground surface to meet
safe and accessible standards, the
surface materials and conditions
must satisfy both criteria as identified above.
The American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) has
established standards for surfaces
that are deemed to be safe, while
requiring a maximum amount of
work to propel a manual wheelchair forward and allow it to turn
on that surface. ADA Standards require ground surfaces of accessible
routes and clear spaces to be " inspected and maintained regularly
and frequently to ensure continued
compliance with ASTM F 1951. "
To see a Guide to ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Play Areas, visit
www.playgroundregs.com/resources
/ADA%20guide.pdf.

Accessible Surfaces
Per ADA standards, the surfaces of
accessible routes must be stable, firm
and slip-resistant. Accessible routes
must be provided to at least one of
each type of ground-level play com-

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Parks & Recreation

http://www.playgroundregs.com/resources http://www.ARKSANDRECREATION.ORG

Playground Guide - 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Playground Guide - 2019