Chapter 4

Creative Collaboration Planning with People With Disabilities

Inclusive Working Environment

We discussed how to make an inclusive programme and how to communicate inclusively now we will be looking at how to make an inclusive working environment. 

An inclusive working environment is a space that does not create any barrier to all its users. 

Making a space inclusive enables people to have equal rights to participate confidently in all activities.

Here are 5 inclusive design principles

  • Can be used by as many people as possible 
  • Understand that there are differences and varieties of users, and understand what could possibly be the barrier of use.
  • Can accommodate a large range of user needs 
  • It is designed so that it can easily be adaptable if there is a change in user need
  • Comfortable and easy to use
Sudakara Art Space, salah satu venue di Bali yang ramah bagi pengguna kursi roda

If we apply these principles, the working environment will be 

  • Inclusive
  • Responsive
  • Flexible
  • Comfortable
  • Accommodative
  • Open – that it makes people feel welcome due to the minimum amount of barriers
  • Realistic 

When looking at making our workplace accessible we need to pay attention to:

  • Whether or not the space is already well known to people?
  • Are there enough signage and are they clear? Such as entrance and toilet signs
  • Visibility of the infrastructure, such as the colour contrast of signage against the wall, can you easily the exits and light switch, etc
  • Floor pattern. An overly busy or too shiny floor could be distracting for those trying to find their ways around the place.
  • Mirrors, for some people who suffer from dementia mirrors, can cause confusion
  • Furniture, consider furniture that is easy to use and disabled friendly, for example, chairs with arms for those who need to rest their arms.

The Indonesian government have provided a technical accessibility guide for buildings and other facilities Permen PUPR No.14 Tahun 2017 Tentang Persyaratan Kemudahan Bangunan Gedung.

Aksesibilitas adalah kemudahan yang disediakan bagi semua orang guna mewujudkan kesamaan kesempatan dalam segala aspek kehidupan dan penghidupannya.

Permen PUPR No.14 Tahun 2017 Tweet

Here is the Indonesian Government rule on public spaces and buildings 

  • Safety, that all public buildings should pay attention to people’s health and safety
  • Ease of use, everyone could reach public places and buildings easily.
  • Usability,  everyone has to be able to use public spaces and buildings
  • Independently, everyone has to be able to reach, enter, and use public spaces and buildings without the need to rely on others for help.

To create an inclusive working environment you also need to consider the psychological effect the working environment has.

From our experience working with disabled creatives here are a few things we considered to accommodate people’s mental health:

  • Ensuring that the space is comfortable and not too formal, so colleagues are not reluctant to ask questions or voice their opinion. 
  • We adjust working targets to each colleague individually, to accommodate to their needs and timeline
  • We focussed on maximising accessibility not people’s weaknesses, for example ensuring that everyone is given access to the correct information and providing them with a space to voice their opinion.
Pak Nyoman sedang melukis pada cangkir yang terbuat dari tanah liat di Jenggala Ceramics Bali

There are still a limited number of inclusive buildings and workspaces in Indonesia, considering that disabled people have the right to access public facilities and accommodations.

Are there buildings or creative spaces that you think are already accessible where you are in Indonesia, if there are please let us know by email or DM us on  Instagram. We can add the spaces to our directory.

In the next article we discuss how to make an inclusive art exhibition.

This article was written originally in Indonesian as a part of Inklusivitas Kolaborasi seni dan Kreatif,  a result of our Project Gerakan Kreabilitas, which is a project funded by British Council’s Developing Inclusive Creative Economy (DICE).

The complete toolkit in Indonesian is available to be downloaded here.

Reference: 

Howard,Fletcher.”The principles of inclusive design. (They include you.)”.Commision for Architecture and the Built Environment”.accessed 2 January 2020

Ensuring your venues and events are open to all”.Shape Access Guide.accessed 9 December 2019