Malaysian Perspective on the Development of Accessible Design (original) (raw)
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Development of Accessible Design in Malaysia
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012
Malaysia has been actively providing accessibility in the built environment since the country signed the ‘Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asia-Pacific Region’ in 1994. However, Malaysia has limitations in enforcing legislation pertaining to accessibility. One of the concerns was the local authorities’ role in having their own mechanisms to create a Barrier Free built environment. The objective is to highlight the gaps in Malaysia’s regulations and to illustrate the research development of the Accessible Design infrastructure for disabled people. The outcome will describe Malaysia’s experience in Accessible Design.
Universal design and accessibility: towards sustainable built environment in Malaysia
2014
An overview about the present status of the facilities, awareness and research related to Universal Design in Malaysia since its independence in 1957. For the last 10 years, Malaysia has shown exponential growth in every aspect, and Malaysia government has given numerous supports towards attending the needs of disadvantaged groups including women, children, single parents, elderly and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). Many standards, regulations, code of practice and guidelines have been developed to have good accessibility, connectivity, usability and seamlessness in built environment. Recently, various groups, including professionals in the building industry have implemented universal design and accessibility in their projects and development. The methodology applied includes table research, observation and access audit at several case studies of public buildings in Putrajaya. KAED Universal Design Unit (KUDU) of International Islamic University Malaysia was formed with the intent...
Universal Design and Accessibility for People with Disabilities in Masjid Negara, Malaysia
Journal of Islamic Architecture, 2017
Malaysia to become seeks to become a fully developed country by 2020. Among nine central challenges demonstrated in the body of the “Vision 2020” is “the challenge of establishing a fully caring society” (WAWASAN 2020). Along with developed societies overcoming such dysfunctional built environments has become under consideration in Malaysia as well to remove barriers and provide equal access of people with disabilities (PWDS) to all public services. Notwithstanding practical steps taken, there are still dissatisfactions from the members of public toward public buildings which cause restriction in PWDS daily life. Previous studies has also raised claims against inaccessibility of mosque buildings as well. In order to realization of a barrier-free built environment for a huge portion of Malaysia population, this research aimed to investigate accessibility and usability of Malaysian mosques for PWDS. Masjid Negara was selected for the purpose of this study. The most recent revision of ...
Qualitative Assessment of Usability and Accessibility of Housing Design Elements for Disabled People
PLANNING MALAYSIA JOURNAL, 2022
Accessibility has become a challenge in today's societies where everyone has equal rights to live in a barrier-free and accessible environment. A previous study indicated that those living in high-rise residences have limited access to facilities for the disabled that are provided in accordance to the Garis Panduan Reka Bentuk Sejagat (Universal Design). This paper aimed to determine the level of accessibility of selected six (6) design elements such as the ramp, stairs, main entrance, the lift, handrails, and parking space and the usefulness of legislation and standards in PPR Pekan Batu, Kuala Lumpur. Qualitative assessments were applied for the study using content analysis of planning guidelines and site observation. The results demonstrated that the efficiency of legislation and standards was a factor in the accessibility and usability of housing design elements for PWDs. Three (3) design elements-the stair, parking space, and main entrance, had recorded the lowest compliance scores compared to another two (2) elements-ramps and handrails, which recorded the second lowest compliance score. Meanwhile, the lift was recorded as the most compliant element based on its accessibility. The outcome of this study implied that different types of disabilities require varied housing accessibility requirements. This study improves accessible design elements for the disabled, resulting in a better environment.
Profiling Disabled Facilities and Accessibility Provided in National Heritage Buildings in Malaysia
Journal of critical reviews, 2020
The national heritage buildings in Malaysia have gained popularity due to their various historical upbringing and culture. They attract both local and international tourists. However, lack of facilities for the disabled people has hindered their prospects to become globally popular. The purpose of this research is to determine the extent of disabled facilities and accessibility in the national heritage buildings. This research opted for qualitative methods to achieve its purpose. Three case studies were selected and observed using Malaysia Standard 1184:2014 Universal Design and Accessibility of the Built Environment-Code of Practice (MS 1184:2014). Two findings revealed from this research are, firstly, the built environment of the heritage buildings itself caused barrier to the disabled person. Secondly, inadequate establishment in heritage act, guidelines, or manuals for disabled facilities and accessibility has caused barrier to the disabled people to enjoy and visit the heritage buildings. This research focussed only on disabled facilities and accessibility in national heritage buildings and was conducted through selected case studies and observations using the MS 1184:2014. This research has also revealed new insights of heritage building. They are growing opportunities for heritage tourism in Malaysia. This research highlights the significance of having disabled facilities and accessibility in heritage buildings. This should be addressed to ensure the participation of disabled people in social activities. This research will be a great contribution in improving the facilities and accessibility for the disabled (including the elderly, pushchairs, prams, and pregnant women) in national heritage buildings by their building management.
2018
In Malaysia, the introduction of the Green Building Index is a reinforcement of the Green building design agenda although compliance is not made mandatory. At the same time, the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008 Malaysia promotes strongly universal design, where accessibility is the major concern in the built environment. Both the Green Building Index and Persons with Disabilities Act support sustainable development in terms of environmental protection and social equity, respectively. The aim of the research is to investigate the accessibility compliance for the Green buildings in Malaysia through the review of the legislation and regulation. The extent of the accessibility of the building is influenced by the whole development process, including planning, design, post-control and management of the building. The study investigates the accessibility of Green buildings in Malaysia, focusing on whether Persons with Disabilities are able to enter, use and exit public buildings. Research method is conducted via multiple site case study visits to conduct the detached observation with persons with disabilities in Green office building, direct observation through access audit checklist, in which the raw data was collected by the researcher to access the compliance of the accessibility (through the review of reports and policy documents). A comprehensive literature review is conducted to identify the building laws regulating access for persons with disabilities within built environment aspect, especially Green building, in order to achieve accessibility. The difficulties in accessing the built environment by different types of users also being investigated. This multiple site case study is valuable because it identifies the inadequacies of current access provisions for people with disabilities and highlights the areas requiring further improvement. Throughout the study, it shows that the Persons with Disabilities' needs are not U n i v e r s i t y o f M a l a y a iv accounted for satisfactorily in Malaysian Green buildings. It is hoped that by conducting this research, the solution can be found to improve the architect's skill in space planning and to understand the perception of users, through the usage of the Green Building Index, to rate buildings in everyday life.
The Accessibility of Buildings and Houses for Disabled Persons: The Law and Practice in Malaysia
IIUM Law Journal
Malaysia is one of the signatories to the proclamations of Asia & Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (1993-2002), yet Malaysia is still lacking of comprehensive laws as regards to rights of persons with disabilities. The only law available is the Uniform Building (Amendment) By Laws, 1991(UBBL Amendment 1991) that provides for building requirements for disabled persons. This by law may be regarded as an initial step taken by Malaysia to ensure a disabled person’s right to full participation in social development. Despite the existence of this by law, most buildings in Malaysia do not have proper facilities or provide easy access for persons with disabilities. Similarly as far as housing is concerned there is no statutory requirement stipulating that housing (in particular public housing) should be designed to accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities. It is the aim of this article to look into some legal provisions related to barrier free buildings including housing in Mala...
The importance of street depends on how the street can be accessed by all types of people which also consider persons with disabilities (PwDs). The increasing in number of PwDs in Malaysia make the street accessibility and services are even more crucial to be provided. Lack of street accessibility for PwDs become the rising issues, however the authorities and designers are yet to take serious action and implement into the street design. This paper evaluates the needs of persons with disabilities to access the commercial street conveniently at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in order to create an inclusive accessibility for all users. Observation and survey questionnaire were carried out to fulfil the objectives. It was found that the street is inaccessible mostly to physical impaired person and visual impaired person due to presence of barriers and inappropriate design of the street elements. With the implementation of Malaysian Standard Code of Practice for Persons with Disabilities, this paper suggest inclusive accessibilities that able to address the real needs of PwDs on commercial street.
UniSZA as the National Centre of Design for Disability in Malaysia
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2019
This paper explains the initial steps of establishing the national centre of design for disabled people in Malaysia. As we all know, there is still no evidence of the existence of a creative centre for industrial product design in the country, especially for this special group. Through the initiative from the School of Industrial Design located in Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), we take a commitment to channel societal significances through designing, developing and producing innovative product design for various categories of disabilities in this country, such as physically disability, mentally disability, vision impair, learning disability, speech disability and others. It will be done entirely in a centre known as National Centre of Design for Disability (CDD), which highlights the standards and quality of design, where the outcomes meet the satisfaction of the end users through its function, ergonomics, safety, comfort and aesthetics for them to not ashamed to join their routine activities in the open public environment. The CDD improves to enhance the existing equipment alongside providing advice and assistance for the stateof-the-art research outcomes.