Creating accessible play spaces

Author: Play Wales and Alison John & Associates
Date: November 2017

This toolkit is intended to support those involved in developing and upgrading accessible play spaces. This includes local authorities, town and community councils, politicians (at all levels), open space planners, housing associations, and park and playground managers.

The toolkit also gives local authorities and their partners guidance about meeting statutory play sufficiency duties when ensuring their area provides enough opportunities for play. It will also help playground manufacturers, parents and community members understand the opportunities and challenges involved in creating accessible play spaces.

It gives clear and concise information that will:

• lead to the creation of play spaces where all children can play alongside their friends and family
• help people understand and solve issues of concern
• provide practical, step-by-step tools and templates to use to remove the barriers that disabled children and their families can experience when accessing play space.

This toolkit focuses on spaces that have been designed specifically for play, such as playgrounds and play areas. However, it can also be applied to other community and public space, whether or not they have been specifically created for children’s play.

This toolkit has been developed by Play Wales and Alison John & Associates following a growing number of queries from parents and providers about providing accessible play opportunities for disabled children in their communities. A small focus group of parents, local authority play area managers, play development officers and representatives of children’s organisations advised on the toolkit content.