EDF reply to the public consultation for the evaluation of the Lifts Directive 95/16/EC

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The European Disability Forum is an independent NGO that represents the interests of 80 million Europeans with disabilities. EDF is a unique platform which brings together representative organisations of persons with disabilities from across Europe. EDF is run by persons with disabilities and their families. We are a strong, united voice of persons with disabilities in Europe.

Contents

EDF reply to the public consultation for the evaluation of the Lifts Directive 95/16/EC

Introduction

Relation to EN 81-70

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Contact person at the EDF secretariat:

Introduction

Accessibility of lifts is a very important issue for persons with disabilities for many reasons. One of them is, of course, that persons with disabilities and especially persons with reduced mobility are relying on lifts in their everyday lives to get out of the house, enter their work place, use public transport, or go to the cinema. Lifts are essential and EDF is advocating for the use of lifts as a means to participate in society on an equal basis with others in our work.

EDF has, for example, been a strong supporter of Regulation 1300/2014 to make railway stations and trains more accessible for persons with disabilities – this Regulation has led to many more lifts being installed at railway stations. Persons with disabilities are thus not only the users of the lifts, they are also some of the strongest advocates for the purchase of lifts by public authorities and private enterprises and are thus contributing to the lifts industry.

However, the lifts that EDF and its members are advocating for are only useful if they are also accessible to the very people who are the main target group. And this means, accessible for all persons with disabilities: blind and partially sighted, persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, persons with mobility impairments as well as persons with intellectual impairments or other cognitive disabilities. Accessibility is thus a very important point that should be reflected adequately in the Lifts Directive.

We will assess in the following paragraphs what the shortcomings of the current Directives are, how this is reflected in the related European Standard (EN) 81-70, and what can be done to improve the text of the Directive.

Assessment of the current Lifts Directive

The EU, as well as 27 out of its currently 28 Member States, has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2010. Article 9 of this convention requires all EU legislation to provide the necessary accessibility provisions to allow persons with disabilities to participate in society “on an equal basis with others”.[1]

Therefore, all new and revised legislation of the EU should mainstream accessibility and the Lifts Directive should mention this also in its preamble.

The definitions and the scope of the Directive should also reflect the ratification of the UNCRPD and attention should be paid to include the notions of “accessibility for persons with disabilities” as well as “universal design”.

As mentioned in the introduction, it is important that accessibility under the Lifts Directive is understood as accessibility for all persons with disabilities. Historically, wheelchair users have usually been in the focus of accessibility provisions. This is certainly an important part of the accessibility provisions, especially concerning the minimum dimensions of the lift cabins, but the Lifts Directive does not just concern wheelchair users, but also others.

For persons who are deaf and hard of hearing for example, lifts need to be equipped with visual information and giving the possibility to deaf persons to communicate visually with a security service in case of any problem. Mobile phones usually do not work in the lifts, deaf persons can not use typical phones in lift cabin and in case of emergency it is very difficult for them to communicate and ask for some help[2]. This might happen mainly in older lifts as newer ones can be adjusted to reach automatically the nearer floor level. The Lifts Directive and other pieces of legislation do currently not take into account deaf persons, with the exception of EN 81-28 and EN 81-70, which mention that a yellow illuminated pictogram should indicate that an alarm has been sent, and a green pictogram when the call is connected. It also includes a recommendation to include an induction loop for hearing aid users. This should also be included directly in the text of the Directive.

For persons who are blind or partially sighted information in audio format and clear visual and tactile markings are crucial. This includes the minimum contrast values of colours used on push buttons, as well as the use of touch screens, which are often not accessible for blind persons. But also audio output and accessible means of communication are important. None of these aspects are explicitly covered under the current Directive and even in the revision of the EN there are some issues with those aspects of accessibility.

Based on this analysis, EDF would like to go into more detail on the relevant Articles:

  • Article 2 of the current Directive refers to obligations of the Member States to ensure health and safety and other aspects, but accessibility is currently not included. This should be completed by specifying that Member States shall also take appropriate measures to take into account all aspects of accessibility for persons with disabilities and ensure that all lifts covered by this Directive facilitate the personal mobility of persons with disabilities.
  • In Article 7 of the current Directive it is stipulated that a lift or safety component that endangers health and safety of a person can be withdrawn from the market. This should be extended to also allow lifts or safety components that don’t respect the accessibility requirements for persons with disabilities can be withdrawn from the market or prohibit it from being placed on the market.
  • In the current Directive, persons with disabilities are only mentioned explicitly in Annex I, section 1.2 (“Carriers”) of the Preliminary Remarks. This is an important section but it should be improved by referring to Article 9 of the UNCRPD and by strengthening it further. The section should apply in all cases, not just “if its dimensions permits” – the minimum dimensions have to be designed in such a way that persons with disabilities can use it, including persons who use electric wheelchairs and other mobility equipment and a personal assistant. It should also be forbidden to use the smallest lift cabin dimension in new constructions where the architecture can be adapted to the size of the lift.
  • Under section 1.6 (“Controls”), a reference to Universal Design and to accessibility for persons with disabilities is required. However, Universal design shall not exclude assistive devices for particular groups of persons with disabilities where this is needed. Additionally, it is stated in 1.6.1. that the controls of “lifts intended for use by unaccompanied disabled persons must be designed and located accordingly”. This is not unclear and phrased in a discriminatory way: Who decides and according to which criteria, which lifts are intended for use by unaccompanied disabled persons and where and when to install or not install them?Does it mean that in all lifts which are not explicitly intended for use by unaccompanied disabled persons any controls do not need to be designed and located appropriately for use by unaccompanied disabled persons? Everybody should be able to use the lift without assistance and whether you can or cannot do so should not be prescribed in the legislation. A better phrasing would be for example “The lifts intended for transport of persons have to be provided with controls designed and located appropriately to enable to be used by unaccompanied disabled persons.” It is crucial that the Lifts Directive on European level is unambiguous and ambitious on this point because it risks also lowering standards in national legislation.

Relation to EN 81-70

The revision of EN 81-70 is very important and the EN, once it is revised, will play an important rule to help implement the provisions of the Lifts Directive. EDF has collaborated with ANEC and its different members to ensure that EN 81-70 fulfils its purpose to make the built environment more accessible for persons with disabilities.

Initially, the EN was progressing well but comments received during the public enquiry phase led CEN/TC 10/WG 7 to introduce a change to the contrast requirements for symbols on push buttons which would adversely affect the accessibility of lifts to those with visual impairments. Even though there was strong protest from organisations representing end users, no attempt at finding a compromise was made. A second ballot has now been called and we are expecting the outcome soon.

During the revision, we were also contacted by ANEC and the European Blind Union, as there was a proposal to include touch screens for the controls. EDF formally opposed to this proposal, as people with disabilities should not be put at risk because of design considerations.

However, as mentioned above, it shows that accessibility is still a requirement that is seen as something “additional” or “optional” by the Member States that can be easily outvoted. Users’ organisations do not have any say in these votes and remain powerless.

Another key feature that has to be changed in the EN is the minimum dimension for the size of the lift cabin. The current minimum size is not sufficient for many newer models of electric wheelchairs and for example mobility scooters or other equipment. Furthermore, the minimum size of the cabin should also allow a personal assistant to be in the lift together with the person who is using the mobility equipment – somebody who is in a wheelchair and cannot move his arms would not be able to operate the lift him/herself and touch the buttons for example.

Finally, it also has to be mentioned that there are some inherent problems with the European standardisation system relating to the involvement and representation of end users in the standardisation process. End users, in particular persons with disabilities, are not adequately represented in the CEN-CENELEC working groups and while ANEC is doing a good job in representing consumers in general, the users’ feedback and experience on accessibility is lacking due to the difficulties for disabled peoples’ organisations to get involved in the process.

Recent events in the developments of the EN 81-70 have shown that representatives of end users are easily ignored and outvoted by other stakeholders, even though it was about essential requirements on accessibility – in this case the lack of contrast of the inscription of the lift buttons. It has to be remembered that standardisation is mainly a tool by the industry, for the industry. Therefore, European standards do support the application of the Lifts Directive to some extent but they can never replace legislation and are by no means a flawless mechanism to achieve this.

EDF Recommendations

  • The revised Directive should make clear reference to the UN CRPD and the EU’s obligation concerning accessibility as a state party to the Convention.
  • Accessibility for all persons with disabilities has to be taken into account, including deaf or hard of hearing persons, blind or partially sighted persons, persons with mobility impairments, as well as persons with cognitive or psychosocial disabilities.
  • The Directive shall contain provisions on sufficient colour contrast of push buttons and alternatives to touch screen operation
  • The Directive shall contain provisions on information and emergency communication for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing
  • The Directive shall contain provisions on increasing the minimum dimensions of the cabins to accommodate mobility equipment, as well as an restriction to use the smallest cabin type in new buildings where the architecture allows.
  • The provisions concerning accessibility of lifts should be compulsory and included in Directive 95/16; it is not enough to include it in the EN. Real change usually only comes when legally binding rules are established that are obligatory for industry. Even though there are some good industry-led initiatives this is unfortunately not the case on a wider level and to ensure access to a crucial product like a lift, which is essential for many persons with disabilities, this can not be optional. It should also be noted that if the EN does not meet the requirements of the Directive, the Commission can propose Common Technical Specifications.
  • In any standardisation activity related to the Lifts Directive, including EN 81-70, users’ organisations have to be able to participate in the development of the standards as an equal partner with full voting rights together with the other stakeholders and Member States.

Conclusion

It is important that accessibility is understood correctly to avoid incomplete or counterproductive requirements and therefore it is important to raise awareness of the obligations under the UNCRPD. Accessibility is not a luxury, it is a right, and it also has to be put in practice.

Acknowledgments

EDF would like to thank the members of the Expert Group on Build Environment and all other members and partner organisations that have contributed this position paper.

Contact person at the EDF secretariat:

Marie Denninghaus, Mobility and Transport Officer

Tel: +32 (0) 2 286 51 84, Email:

Should you have any problems in accessing the documentation, please contact the EDF Secretariat. (Tel: +32 (0) 2 282 46 00, Email: ).

1

[1]United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 9; , retrieved on 2 December 2016

[2]There was for example the case of a young deaf person working in a hospital in Greece, who spent a whole night in a lift because of a power outage and lack of accessible means of communication.