In terms of universal design and evacuation planning, there are a number of measures that can be implemented to ensure a building is safe for all occupants, not only when the building is being used in its normal state, but when there’s an emergency and a need for evacuation.
During an evacuation, the anatomy of a building changes, alarms are activated, passenger lifts cannot generally be used and people use egress paths that may differ from their normal path into the building. For these reasons, designing a universally accessible means of egress into the building at an early concept stage is the best approach.
Though the following is not an exhaustive list, it aims to provide some basic steps that can be adopted to provide a universally inclusive environment, with consideration to the social model of disability discussed above, and with regard to emergency planning: