Publication
Maritime Passenger Transport Accessibility
Published on
Last updated on
The Department has pursued a number of initiatives in an effort to support improvement in maritime passenger transport accessibility for persons with disabilities. These initiatives include disability access audits on a range of passenger vessels, the provision of disability awareness training for passenger vessels owners and operators, and the development, with the National Disability Authority, of Guidelines for Accessible Maritime Passenger Transport, which can be found below.
The policy in recent years has been to encourage voluntary efforts by vessel owners and operators to improve access to their passenger services.
Passenger ship and boat owners/operators are encouraged to carry out accessibility improvements to maritime passenger transport services with a focus on the following issues:
1. More enhanced and accessible information for customers on websites and leaflets.
2. Improvements in the lay-out, positioning and accessibility of signage, for example, clear signage using contrasting colours and matt surfaces with easy to read font and letter size.
3. Colour contrasting on rails and on hazards, e.g. staircases, ramps, steps at doorways, trip hazards on decks and seating.
4. The addition of colour contrasted grab rails on walkways and in toilets.
5. The use of textured walkways and non-slip surfaces.
A flyer is being distributed to encourage accessibility improvements on passenger ship and boat services based on five suggested low-cost improvement options.
