PyeongChang 2018 completes the ‘Accessibility Manual’

The PyeongChang Organising Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) have announced that it has completed their signature ‘Accessibility Manual’ for Olympic venues and services to stage a successful and accessible Paralympic Winter Games.

Accessibility is one of the most basic yet important factors for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, not only for the participating Paralympic athletes but for the attendees as well. It also means that all spectators including the physically-impaired, the elderly, and pregnant women can overcome differences in physical condition, age and language, and have access to all venues, services and infrastructure without discrimination.

In order to host the most accessible Games possible, POCOG has developed its own signature ‘Accessibility Manual’ by incorporating guidelines from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)’s ‘Accessibility Guide’ and relevant Korean legislation to ensure maximum access and convenience. POCOG adopted higher standards between the IPC guidelines and local regulations in order to maximise the accessibility of the PyeongChang Games.

Over the past four months, POCOG has evaluated the suitability and feasibility of the Manual by relentlessly gathering valuable input from various stakeholders, such as IPC officials, athletes and sports fans with impairment and special authorised architects.

The main contents of the ‘Accessibility Manual’ by POCOG include;

-Area Accessibility covering standards for overall facilities including pedestrian passages, parking areas, ramps, stairs and elevators, and also focuses on accommodation facilities such as bedrooms and bathrooms.

-Games Service Accessibility provides standards for various categories such as publication, communication and transportation, and also includes accessibility requirements that Gangwon Province and venue cities can refer to when improving accessibility for city infrastructure.

Starting this week, POCOG will utilise the ‘Accessibility Manual’ to prepare for the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games by distributing it to relevant stakeholders including the Korean government, venue cities, Korean Paralympic Committee (KPC) and organisations for physically- impaired athletes.

With the completion of the Manual, POCOG this year will begin thorough accessibility inspections for the Games facilities, services and infrastructure to further accelerate its preparation to host a successful and accessible Games. POCOG also hopes to leave a legacy model of accessibility for Korea that can lead to a higher benchmark of accessibility for the entire nation.