Twenty members of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy's (SC) Accessibility Forum recently visited Education City Stadium to review its accessibility features.
The visit included members of the disability community in Qatar, who toured the 40,000-seat stadium to provide feedback on its accessibility feature, sc.qa reported today.
The visit comes as part of the SC's efforts to ensure that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is accessible and inclusive to all fans with disabilities. All of the tournament’s stadiums have been designed with accessibility features in mind, and user testing and audits form a central part of delivering an inclusive fan experience, according to the SC.
During the visit, members of the Accessibility Forum were given a tour of all the stadium’s accessibility features, which have been placed at different points on the user journey. These include signage, parking, accessible entry points, wheelchair-accessible seating and all other key facilities such as concession stands, bathrooms and emergency exits.
Fatma al-Nuaimi, SC Communications director, said: “The Accessibility Forum forms a critical part of our commitment to host an inclusive and accessible FIFA World Cup in 2022 so that fans with disabilities can enjoy the tournament, barrier-free. The Forum enables us to directly engage with the community and make sure that people with disabilities play an active role in making sure that our stadiums, public transportation networks and touristic and entertainment sites meet their needs to deliver a seamless experience.”
Qatar University student and forum member Fahad Saeed al-Hamad said, “These visits ensure that people with disabilities give first-hand feedback on the accessibility of stadiums. Through the implementation of accessibility standards and better understanding the needs of the disability community, the FIFA World Cup 2022 can play a critical role in making all of Qatar more accessible in the future, and so being a part of this initiative makes me really proud.”
At the end of each stadium visit, which will include all eight FIFA World Cup 2022 stadiums by the time the tournament kicks off, forum members are invited to share feedback so that a report outlining any areas of improvement can be submitted to the relevant teams at the SC. These reports form a critical part of Qatar’s commitment to ensuring that all fans with disabilities are able to enjoy the tournament at stadiums and all fan experience activities.
In addition to learning about the stadium’s accessibility features, members also got the chance to visit other facilities of the recently inaugurated Education City Stadium and learn about its legacy plans, which include the donation of seating to developing countries post-2022, a school and retail stores, the report added.
Launched in 2016, the Accessibility Forum is a consultation group that advises the SC and its stakeholders on the needs of people with disabilities in relation to all aspects of the FIFA World Cup 2022, including tournament infrastructure and public transport.
The SC's Accessibility Forum includes members from various groups across Qatar, including the Qatar Social & Cultural Centre for the Deaf, Qatar Social & Cultural Centre for the Blind, Qatar Rehabilitation Centre, Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, Family Hope Centre, Renad Academy, Sensory Souk, Accessible Qatar, the Mada Centre and Qatar University.
