Proudlock Associates Completes ITV's First Inclusive Design And Access Audits

Proudlock Associates has completed ITV's first inclusive design and access audits across its diverse estate, making recommendations on reasonable adjustments that will give it confidence in its buildings and enable it to extend a warm welcome to a wide range of visitors.

Project details
Client: Independent Television
Dates: 2019 – 2020
Services delivered: Access audits and accessibility guides, including recommendations for improvements

Key features
• Multiple sites with many different stakeholders
• Phasing the visits to deliver the work efficiently
• Meeting client deadlines
• Presenting a high quality of audit information
• Working with the client to meets its aspirations of inclusion for everyone

Maximising value by being open-minded
ITV was very strategic about the project delivery, maximising the value we were able to deliver by identifying the audits as a huge opportunity to drive inclusion across its estate. The collaborative nature of ITV staff empowered us to gather and report high-quality information.

Managing accessibility across a diverse estate
ITV's estate is diverse, which is mostly owned and operated by landlords. Our work also included assessing relevant landlord areas that are accessed and used by ITV. We have proactively managed this interface with landlords throughout the project, including communicating the findings of our audits with them.

Work within a live media environment
We had to be aware of what was happening in the studios each day to minimise disruption, so we checked the schedules and managed our programme around broadcasts. Director, Liam Proudlock, managed the estate of another media organisation for 15 years, and brought this insight to the project.

Our audit approach
Initial research
We completed desktop research for all sites to enable us to be familiar with the buildings before we arrived. This research included reviewing the external facilities on Streetview to identify the building, and assess the levels and parking. ITV also provided building plans, which we studied to identify to create a walk-through route to assess all of the areas, including stairwells, in a logical sequence. We were also able to identify any challenges before we arrived at site, so that we prioritised them during our audit.

During the audit
Our priorities were to identify barriers to accessibility across the estate and recommend solutions to either remove them or mitigate their impact. We also considered any potential breaches of the Equality Act, for example ensuring that all members of society had equal access to employment. A key area of focus was building access and egress, to enable disabled people to have as much independence as possible. We also checked surfaces, lighting, spatial arrangements, level changes, complexity and way finding.

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