Inclusive Playgrounds for Seattle - The Lucas Play Project - June 2024

The Challenge

98% of Seattle’s 175 publicly funded city playgrounds exclude people with mobility and visual disabilities. Indeed, most Seattle playgrounds are not inclusive of people with any disabilities. Yet roughly 20-25% of Seattle-area residents are estimated to experience some form of disability.(1) Those living in economic insecurity, Black and Indigenous people, and the elderly are impacted by disability at higher rates than the entire population.(2) And the exclusion of people with disabilities from public spaces is disproportionately harmful for those with intersectional identities.

The Lucas Play Project and our partners know that Seattle can do better. We can create playgrounds that invite interaction and create a sense of belonging for all residents. We can include people with disabilities in the first public spaces where young children learn to interact with others. We know that inclusion benefits all children, not just disabled children. It teaches our youth that people with disabilities belong in our public spaces and are valuable members of our communities. That all children have a right to play.

The Opportunity

One specific opportunity for improving inclusion in Seattle Playgrounds is to change the physical features of playgrounds so they include those with mobility disabilities. An estimated 12.8% of Washington state residents have mobility disabilities(3) and 2.8% have visual impairment.(4) These residents cannot access or use 98% of Seattle playgrounds for two reasons:

• Woodchips (also called engineered wood fiber) are not safe or accessible surfaces for those who use wheelchairs, other mobility supports, or have vision difficulties.

• Play equipment that excludes people with mobility disabilities eliminates them from playing with peers. A play structure without ramps or ground-level access is a “wheel up and watch” experience for disabled children. Children who can’t sit up independently are left out of swinging unless there is a swing with a harness and postural support.

Seattle can change this reality for our children and our society. Our City Council could establish clear minimum standards for playgrounds to be inclusive of those with mobility disabilities. These standards would ensure our city follows Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which states that “equal opportunity for benefit” must be provided for those with disabilities when using local or state public funds. We can leverage work done across the country to legally increase disability inclusion at playgrounds, as the State of New Hampshire did in 2023(5) by establishing clear legal standards for playground surfaces. These standards would be met in updates to current playgrounds and any new construction.

The Lucas Play Project is asking for input to ensure that proposed legislation reflects the lived expertise of the disability community. If you are 1) a person with a disability, 2) a caregiver for someone with a disability, or 3) an organization supporting the disability community, we ask for your guidance and feedback on these draft minimum standards for Seattle playgrounds. Building on principles of Universal Design like those set out by the American Society of Landscape Architects, we hope to articulate standards that lead to greater inclusion of the disability community at City Playgrounds.

DRAFT Minimum Standards for Inclusive Playgrounds: City of Seattle

1. Surfaces. The City of Seattle must provide resilient solid ground surfaces throughout all City playgrounds to ensure the safety and inclusion of all residents:

• Acceptable surfaces: Solid or composite rubber, turf, cement, or another solid surface.

• Unacceptable: Engineered wood fiber, gravel, other loose fill or aggregate materials.

2. Equipment: The City of Seattle must provide accessible play equipment. Examples include:

• Play Structure: When the City installs play structures, they must include:

  • Safe ramps or ground-level access points. 

  • Opportunities to engage with equipment at multiple levels if elevated.

• Swings: If the City chooses to install swings, there should be a mix of swings that allow people of all ages and abilities to participate, including at least 1 swing that offers postural support with a safety harness for children that cannot sit independently.

3. Access: The City of Seattle must provide accessible routes to the park for people of all abilities, including but not limited to handicap parking and curb cuts.

Additional Recommendations

What should we recommend be included if a park can have additional features, recognizing that not every park has the space or budget for additional features?

4. Nature-based environment. Pathways Park and Bellevue Inspiration Playground are both great example nature-based inclusion across multiple park features.  

5. Other play structures: If a park choose to include other structures, it must ensure that they can be used by all abilities, even if that use may differ. For example:

o   Mobility device-friendly merry go rounds, which are level with the ground.

o   Splash parks with safe, accessible, and inclusive surfacing.

o   Monkey bars designed so a mobility device user can move underneath them, while other children are climbing in parallel play.

6. Bathrooms: Gender-neutral restrooms with changing tables for children and adults.

Your Feedback

What are your thoughts on these draft minimum standards? Please take our survey and share your perspectives. You can also email us at kimberly.gilsdorf@gmail.com if you want to share your thoughts or support this effort in other ways.

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(1) Christine Clarridge. (2023, March 24). Seattle still struggles with disability access. Axios Seattle. https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2023/03/24/seattle-disability-access-problems

(2) United States Census Bureau, S1810: Disability Characteristics from the 2019 American Community Survey for Washington State. https://data.census.gov/

(3) Anna Zivarts. (2019, August 28). Op-ed: People with disabilities need to get around. Seattle needs to make it easier. Cascade PBS News. https://crosscut.com/2019/08/people-disabilities-need-get-around-seattle-needs-make-it-easier

(4) United States Census Bureau, S1810: Disability Characteristics from the 2019 American Community Survey for Washington State. https://data.census.gov/

(5) Annmarie Timmins. (2023, August 8). New law aims to make playgrounds safer – for everyone. The New Hampshire Bulletin. https://newhampshirebulletin.com/briefs/new-law-aims-to-make-playgrounds-safer-for-everyone/