A percepção de pessoas com deficiência e idosos sobre a acessibilidade: estudo no Parque João Goulart, RS

Almost 35 years after creating the accessibility Brazilian standard, it is still common to find public leisure spaces with inadequate infrastructure for people with physical and visual disabilities and older people. Techniques for surveying environmental perception contribute to understanding their preferences and improving the quality of these places. This article aimed to analyze the perception of persons with physical and visual disabilities and older people on the accessibility of Joao Goulart Park (PJG), located in Santa Rosa, south of Brazil, to collaborate with the planning of spaces more suitable to their needs. The method involved two tools: interviews with closed and open-ended questions and image preference technique. One hundred forty-five people with physical and visual disabilities and older people participated in this survey. The results showed differences in the perception of the park accessibility, according to the type of physical limitation (physical, visual or ageing). The older people considered the park more accessible, and the people with visual impairment less accessible. The interviewed perceptions reflect their impairments; the more limitations they have, the more sensitive they are to accessibility issues. Their opinions are fundamental to understanding and pointing out the built environment's flaws in the failure to meet their specific needs. Their understanding of accessibility is based on their personal experiences, often without considering the physical conditions of other people.