Accessible Exterior Surfaces Technical Article

What proportion of the population could negotiate these surfaces? Energy consumption, level of difficulty rating and rating of perceived exertion were evaluated to determine the proportion of our subjects who considered each surface to be “accessible.” An “accessible” surface was one that required less than 0.20 mlO2/kg/m energy consumption, a level of difficulty rating less than 6 (“difficult”), or a rating of perceived exertion less than 13 (“somewhat hard”). Over 90% of our subjects found the objectively firm and stable surfaces to be “accessible,” while over 80% of the subjects considered the packed dirt surface “accessible.” In comparison, less than 70% of the subjects considered the wood products or sand surfaces to be accessible. Further, the percentage of subjects who considered sand to be accessible is probably artificially high because many subjects, particularly those using wheelchairs, refused or were unable to complete the sand test. If we assume that other disability groups would have similar results (as indicated above), we can hypothesize that in general, at least 80% of the population would consider the surfaces that meet the proposed criteria for “firm and stable” to be accessible.