Accessibility
The Vancouver International Airport is well regarded as one of the most accessible airports in the world. In 2004, the Vancouver International Airport was awarded of the Rick Hansen Accessibility Award, which recognizes “facilities and communities that improve the quality of life for people with mobility limitations” . The Vancouver International Airport has exceeded national building code requirements with respect to access for people with disabilities, which Hansen has stressed, “benefits not only people in wheelchairs, but the elderly, the blind, parents pushing strollers and everyone else with mobility problems”
Since 1992, the Vancouver Airport Authority has been working with an independent accessibility consultant to eliminate the physical barriers in the built environment, and is “committed to providing fully accessible terminal facilities for people of all backgrounds and capabilities” With 80% of the vacationing traveling public over the age of 55, and with more than 550 million people world-wide that have a disability, the Vancouver International Airports commitment to meaningful access is a fundamental part of good customer service
Designated short-term parking spaces and curb-side ramps are available on each level of the terminal building for vehicles displaying a valid SPARC permit, and are located next to main doors near check-in counters and baggage claim areas for easier access. Lowered counters with toe clearance for wheelchair users are also available at check-in, customer care, and all retail outlets in the Vancouver Airport. Bathrooms have also been designed to be wheelchair accessible with doorless and no-touch entry features, lowered sinks, and handsfree bathroom dispensers. Grab bars and emergency call buttons are also present in all wheelchair accessible toilet stalls.
Low resistance carpeting and other materials such as laminate flooring have been utilized throughout the airport to make it easier for people using wheelchairs and walkers to move throughout the airport. Elevators are large and allow for easy turning in a wheelchair, and special wheelchairs designed to fit down aircraft isles are utilized to assist with boarding and deplaning. Wheelchair lifts have been installed at aircraft gates to provide disabled passengers with their own wheelchairs as quickly as possible after an aircraft lands in Vancouver.
Features that have been implemented throughout the Vancouver Airport to aid those with hearing loss include a public address system that is designed to reduce “noise pollution” for those with hearing aids. The Vancouver Airport has installed more individual speakers in a given space than is standard, which allows the volume of the speakers to be turned down and provides a better quality of sound. At check-in counters, amplified handsets are available to aid those with hearing aids, and all telephones throughout the airport have adjustable volume controls. "Visual pagers" are dedicated video monitors that are located throughout the airport and convey important information to travellers that have hearing impairments. In the event of an emergency, a video override system displays large bold messages on all entertainment systems, and provides information about the type of emergency and the required coarse of action from the public. Strobe fire alarms have also been installed throughout the airport, and have been carefully programmed to prevent seizures to those with epilepsy. The Vancouver Airport has its own TTY telephone number for incoming inquiries about airport operations, and within the terminal there are also 23 public telephone equipped with TTY at both stand up and seated positions
The Vancouver Airport also has numerous features that have been implemented to assist visually impaired travellers. Three types of flooring are utilized throughout the terminal and function as a texturized guide to assist travellers in identifying their location within the airport. In areas with tile or terrazzo, patterns in the tile help to identify exits. Areas that have carpet help to identify that a gate is close by, and areas with laminate flooring indicate retail spaces. Tactile maps are also available at customer service counters throughout the airport, and braille and tactile lettering are used throughout the airport to indicate building features such as washrooms.
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