About the Building Access Guide

The Building Access Guide exists to help organizations communicate high-quality, practical information about the physical accessibility of their buildings on their websites.

Communication vs. Construction

[!IMPORTANT] This is a communication framework. It helps you describe what already exists. It is not a guide on how to build or renovate an accessible building.

For instructions on physical construction, accessibility standards, or building codes, you should refer to your local regulations (such as the ADA in the US, British Standards/Part M in the UK, or the AODA in Ontario) and accessibility consultants.

Our Approach

This framework is built on the concept of the Access Chain. Access is not a single feature (like a ramp); it is a sequence of events. If any link in the chain fails—from planning the trip to entering the building and using the facilities—the whole visit may fail.

Core Goals:

  1. Practicality: Provide templates that can be copy-pasted into your website CMS.
  2. Transparency: Encourage organizations to state what is not accessible, as well as what is.
  3. Structured Data: Move towards a future where accessibility information is machine-readable and discoverable by search engines.
  4. Resilience: Include maintenance checklists to ensure the information and the physical link stay accurate over time.

Neutrality and Expertise

This toolkit is intentionally neutral and community-driven. It pulls together established best practices, research, and documentation patterns from accessibility experts and published guides across the web.

Key influences include:

  • Museum Accessibility Guidance: Models for describing operational constraints in complex public buildings.
  • The Access Chain: A sequential framework for understanding user journeys (defined by the Sensory Trust).
  • Web Standards: Applying WCAG-style rigor to physical documentation.

While we strive for international applicability, we encourage users to adapt these templates to their local regulatory context and specific building types.