Evaluation of Architectural Barriers in Municipal Offices in the Silesian Province by the Disabled

Abstract

The article contains an evaluation of architectural barriers encountered by the disabled who use services provided by municipal offices in the Silesian Province. In the study the following research hypotheses have been formulated: 1) the type of disability has a considerable influence on the disabled client’s evaluation of architectural barriers in municipal offices, 2) the age of a disabled person influences the evaluation of architectural barriers in municipal offices. A survey study has been conducted among the handicapped with the following types of disability: damage or disorder of sensory analysers’ function (this category includes among others the blind, people with poor eyesight, the deaf, the hearing-impaired, persons with visual and auditory perception disorders); intellectual impairment—mental retardation, social functioning impairment—disorders related to neural, emotional balance, communication capacity impairment—hindered verbal contact (speech impediments, autism, stammering); motor impairment—persons with motor organ dysfunction. The conducted analysis allowed proving the formulated hypotheses.