Analysis About Accessibility Due to the Difference in the Building Type of Accommodation

The previous study explored the current barrier-free status of accommodation facilities in Japan, focusing in particular on the arrangement condition of barrier-free accessibility for wheelchair users. However, it is believed that barrier-free conditions and future issues also vary depending on building types such as traditional inns and hotels. This study thus aims to analyze and examine building types and barrier-free arrangements for people other than wheelchair users in order to understand environmental arrangement issues more individually and practically. Analyses of the results of the countrywide investigation on accessibility in accommodation facilities led to the following two points: · In traditional inns, there is a particular issue in the height of outlets and switches from the floor. However, many hotels provide no sliding doors. This difference largely depends on the type of guest rooms, i.e., Japanese- or Western-style. · With respect to accessibility arrangement for guests other than wheelchair users, there remain issues such as installation of handrails and consideration of the height of switches and fulfillment of auxiliary dog tools. This study first separated accommodation facilities into traditional inns and hotels to investigate barrier-free arrangement rate of each type of buildings. In traditional inns, it is found that there is a particular issue in the height of outlets and switches from the floor, and that many hotels provide no sliding doors. It is also found that issues in the arrangement of an environment in which disabled people other than wheelchair users and elderly people can stay comfortably, such as installation of handrails and consideration of the height of switches and the fulfillment of auxiliary dog tools and devices that send a message via vibration or light. Future research should focus on the characteristics of individual guests to investigate an accommodation environment for mentally disabled people and developmentally disabled people whose utilization rate of accommodation facilities was demonstrated to be high in the previous investigation.