Research Study Findings | August 2023
SUMMARY:
We wanted to know:
And in a survey of 23 people, we found that the most important accessibility feature was accessible trip planning materials, shortly followed by having benches along the trail, and making the trail fully accessible.
This survey and outreach effort grew out of a conversation between Ariana Cano-Gomez and Bridget Butler on the CDCI podcast.
Butler, aka "The Bird Diva", specializes in the art of "slow birding", or approaching birding in a way that prioritizes slowing down. In the episode, they talked about how Butler's slow birding ideas touch on disability, race, and access to and love for Vermont's wild places.
"Like something as simple as bathrooms: oh my gosh! I thought this place would be fine because it had a building and all of that. But it wasn’t: the doorways were too narrow, and the path from the parking to the main trail? There was like a big muddy dip! And I thought, ‘There’s no way that someone using a wheelchair could really navigate this.’ It just kind of blew my mind.” — Bridget Butler
A full transcript and downloadable audio of the episode is available here.
From there, we pulled together a nine-question survey in Qualtrics, and sent it out via CDCI and The Nature Conservancy Vermont's social media channels.
The questions we asked were:
We also asked people who responded to tell us about their age, race, gender, disability identity. And finally we asked them which state they lived in, what language they primarily speak, and whether they travel with a service animal.
The accessibility feature that the most people ranked as Extremely Important was having detailed, accessible trip planning information available before their trips. Sixteen people marked that as Extremely Important.
Two accessibility features tied for second in popularity. Both "having accessible benches along the trail" and a "fully accessible trail" were voted as Extremely Important by 15 of the 23 people who filled out our survey.
Here's how people ranked the importance of accessibility features in natural areas. We judged the ranking by counting the number of people who voted each feature as "Extremely Important."
| RANK | FEATURE | # OF VOTES |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Accessible Trip Planning Materials | 16 |
| 2nd | Fully Accessible Trails | 15 |
| 2nd | Benches on Trails | 15 |
| 3rd | Designated Disabled Parking | 13 |
| 4th | Accessible Restrooms | 12 |
| 4th | Inclusive Signage | 12 |
| 5th | Well-Lit Parking Area | 9 |
As part of our survey, we asked the question, "What does a natural space feel like to you when it's inclusive, accessible, and safe?"
Here are the answers we received.
As part of our survey, we asked, "Can you think of a place you wish to visit but you have been limited to because of specific barriers? If yes, what was the place? What were the barriers?"
Here are the answers.
23 people answered our survey.
As the organizations that manage Vermont's natural outdoor spaces think about accessibility, we need to know specifically how to make them accessible. We need to know what's important to the people who visit -- or want to visit -- those spaces. But the more people tell those organizations about accessibility being Extremely Important, the more accessibility will be prioritized.
And without studies like these, organizations might guess about how to make spaces more accessible -- and they might guess wrong.
It's one thing to look at numbers about accessibility, but it's quite different to read or hear about people with disabilities describing their lived experiences.
This is why it's important to ask questions about the demographics -- age, gender, ability -- so that we know people with disabilities are being included in collecting this sort of data.
Remember: nothing about us, without us.
Accessibility, Web, & Communications
marketing & outreach coordinator, The Nature Conservancy Vermont
birding enthusiast
