IES Drago delivers an accessibility audit of the Casa de Iberoamérica
Students from the Cádiz secondary school analyse the spaces of the cultural centre and propose improvements such as braille signage and pictograms.
The students of IES Drago in Cádiz have submitted the report of an accessibility audit of the Casa de Iberoamérica. The study concludes that the building generally has good accessibility: there are parking spaces for people with reduced mobility nearby, access ramps, doors wide enough to move around inside, adapted toilets and accessible lifts.
An analysis with room for improvement
The work, carried out by 38 students and their teachers from the Communication Mediation, Travel Agencies and Event Management, and Tourist Guide, Information and Assistance cycles, points out that there are still aspects that can be improved. The president of the Casa de Iberoamérica, Pablo Otero, has indicated that the audit will serve as a guide to renew the signage and include braille, as has already been done in newly built municipal buildings such as the Tabacalera depots, and pictograms that make orientation inside easier, among other matters.
To reach these conclusions, the students visited the centre last January and went through its rooms putting themselves in the shoes of people with different abilities: some used wheelchairs, others headphones that prevented them from hearing and others blindfolds to experience the visit as a blind person would.
What the document includes
The report submitted consists of an audit, an improvement plan, examples of good practices and a database with Tiktok and Instagram profiles of people who create content about disability.
According to the Casa de Iberoamérica, incorporating more accessibility criteria means guaranteeing the effective right of access to culture for all audiences and broadening the potential visitors.
A project born in the classroom
Teachers at IES Drago designed a pioneering optional module in Andalusia on Accessible and Inclusive Tourism, which has been implemented in other locations in the region following the contents and criteria of the Cádiz centre. Within that module, which is taught in the institute's three higher-level training cycles, a service-learning project was created so that the students' activities benefit society. At present, a student on this course is doing her internship at the Casa de Iberoamérica and guides visits around the building with different schools in the city.
The next phase of the project will continue next academic year, comparing this audit with representatives of associations of people with disabilities in Cádiz, and extending the experience to other tourist resources in the city is not ruled out.
