Accessibility Quality in Public University Structures: A Comprehensive Approach to Inclusive Design

10 pages•Published: July 23, 2025

Carolyn Wilkinson, Mirsalar Kamari and Cindy Walls

Abstract

Quality accessibility features have a substantial effect on the user experience of a public service structure; however, research on these features often focuses on code compliance, limiting quality analysis abilities. In addition, research focuses mostly on common mobility challenges, reducing information on other disabilities such as cognitive and visual impairments. As a public university, The University of Southern Mississippi’s function as an institution relies on students’ ability to access its services, directly connecting the institutional value to its access quality. We designed a series of survey questions to assess a structure’s accessibility features and their quality, focusing on including lesser researched disabilities in the data set. Information was collected from the University’s Hattiesburg, MS campus and translated into a series of numerical data used to generate “accessibility scores” for both individual structures and survey items, indicating overall building access quality and campus-wide trends related to specific access types. These trends identify gaps in accessibility focus overall and indicate specific campus needs. This research outcomes foster improvements in the University’s quality of accessibility, additionally improving the quality of life for the hundreds of disabled students in attendance.

Keyphrases: architectural accessibility, disability inclusion, environment design, user experience analysis

In: Wesley Collins, Anthony J. Perrenoud and John Posillico (editors). Proceedings of Associated Schools of Construction 61st Annual International Conference, vol 6, pages 836-845.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/wg1x
	https://doi.org/10.29007/trh3

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{ASC2025:Accessibility_Quality_Public_University,
  author    = {Carolyn Wilkinson and Mirsalar Kamari and Cindy Walls},
  title     = {Accessibility Quality in Public University Structures: A Comprehensive Approach to Inclusive Design},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of Associated Schools of Construction 61st Annual International Conference},
  editor    = {Wesley Collins and Anthony J. Perrenoud and John Posillico},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Built Environment},
  volume    = {6},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2632-881X},
  url       = {/publications/paper/wg1x},
  doi       = {10.29007/trh3},
  pages     = {836-845},
  year      = {2025}}

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