oSIST prEN 17984-6:2023

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
oSIST prEN 17984-6:2023
01-julij-2023
Psi pomočniki - 6. del: Dostopnost in univerzalni dostop
Assistance Dogs - Part 6: Accessibility and Universal Access
Assistenzhunde - Barrierefreiheit und universeller Zugang
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 17984-6
ICS:
03.080.99 Druge storitve Other services
11.180.99 Drugi standardi v zvezi s Other standards related to
pripomočki za invalide aids for disabled and
handicapped people
oSIST prEN 17984-6:2023 en
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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oSIST prEN 17984-6:2023


DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
prEN 17984-6
NORME EUROPÉENNE

EUROPÄISCHE NORM

July 2023
ICS 11.180.99; 65.020.30
English Version

Assistance dogs - Part 6: Accessibility and Universal Access
 Assistenzhunde - Barrierefreiheit und universeller
Zugang
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 452.

If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.

This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.

Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.


EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2023 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 17984-6:2023 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

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Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 General provisions for the accessibility for assistance dog teams . 6
4.1 General. 6
4.2 Barriers . 6
4.3 Specific requirements of assistance dog teams . 6
4.4 Responsibilities of the assistance dog teams . 7
4.4.1 General. 7
4.4.2 Further responsibilities . 8
5 Guidance for specific services and areas to be accessed . 8
5.1 Built environment . 8
5.1.1 General. 8
5.1.2 Transport and travel systems . 8
5.2 Prohibited areas . 10
6 Guidance for the implementation of accessibility measures . 10
6.1 General. 10
6.2 Leadership and commitment . 10
6.3 Implementation . 11
6.4 Accessible information . 11
Annex A (informative) Best practice . 12
A.1 Communication and interaction with assistance dog team. 12
A.2 Transport and travel . 12
A.3 Accommodation, restaurants, shops, cultural institutions and other indoor facilities . 13
Bibliography . 14

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European foreword
This document (prEN 17984-6:2023) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 452
“Assistance Dogs”, the secretariat of which is held by UNI.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
This document is part of a series of European Standards under the general title Assistance Dogs, which
will comprise the following parts:
— Part 1: Vocabulary
— Part 2: Lifetime welfare
— Part 3: Competencies for assistance dogs’ professionals
— Part 4: Pre-training, Training and Tasks
— Part 5: Client Services
— Part 6: Accessibility and Universal Access
— Part 7: Conformity assessment
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Introduction
Although access to public transport or public institutions is guaranteed by national legislation in
various European countries and by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (UNCRPD), many assistance dog users still encounter significant problems due to the lack
of consistent accessibility standards across Europe. This results in users being denied their rights to
board public transport or enter public places, either as a result of common misconceptions or
ignorance of existing regulations on assistance dogs, or because assistance dogs and their users are
perceived as an inconvenience.
Assistance dogs play a vital role in the lives of many persons with disabilities. They increase
independence, social participation and allow a greater level of safety for persons with disabilities.
Recognizing the importance of promoting accessibility for persons with disabilities in the context of
built environment and transportation, and that accessibility is a means of achieving inclusive societies
and development, this document specifies requirements and recommendations for the accessibility of
public and private spaces and universal access for assistance dog teams in an active status.
For the purpose of this document, public space refers to a space or place either public or private
property, where public is generally admitted.
The European Commission (EC) issued several mandates in the past addressed to CEN/CENELEC and
ETSI to facilitate accessibility for persons with disabilities, e.g. Mandate 473 on accessibility following
the Design for All approach, Mandate 420 on accessibility in the built environment, Mandate 376 in
support of European accessibility requirements for public procurement of products and services in the
ICT domain. And finally, the European Accessibility act (a directive) that aims to improve the
functioning of the internal market for accessible products and services, by removing barriers created
by divergent legislation in Member States. This facilitates the work of service and transport providers
and organizations and brings benefits to persons with disabilities in the European Union.
Furthermore, the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 intends to tackle the
diverse challenges that persons with disabilities face. It aims to progress on all areas of the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, both at EU and Member State level.
This document contributes to the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in Europe. On the issue of accessibility (Article 9), the
Convention requires countries to identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers and ensure that persons
with disabilities can access their environment, transportation, public facilities and services, and
information and communications technologies. Personal mobility and independence are to be fostered
by facilitating affordable personal mobility, training in mobility skills and access to mobility aids,
devices, assistive technologies and forms of live assistance (Article 20).
For the purposes of this document, an assistance dog team means a working combination of a
beneficiary, an assistance dog and possibly a supervising handler. It is also referred to as an assistance
dog team in an active status.
An assistance dog as an assistive aid or a form of live assistance performs tasks to increase
independence and to mitigate limitations of a person with a disability. Since this can only be achieved
through socialization and training, it is important that dogs and puppies being prepared for an
assistance dog role are given access as assistance dog teams in an active status.
NOTE National legislation can determine access provisions for assistance dogs in training and puppies.
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1 Scope
This document specifies requirements and recommendations for the accessibility of public and private
spaces and universal access for assistance dog teams in an active status.
The accessibility requirements and recommendations for assistance dog teams in this document are
applicable across the full spectrum of the built environment both indoor and outdoor (e.g. social
service, medical and educational facilities, public institutions, cultural venues, sporting venues, hotel
accommodation, public transport, parks, nature reserves).
The purpose of this document is to improve the accessibility for assistance dog teams ensuring their
rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, so that they have
the same opportunities as all citizens and can participate independently in all areas of life.
This document provides:
— specific requirements of assistance dog teams to support accessibility and to achieve universal
access;
— responsibilities of assistance dog teams to enhance the public acceptance of assistance dogs;
— guidance for specific services and areas to be accessed;
— guidance for the implementation of accessibility measures at public and private bodies responsible
for the built environment including transport and travel systems.
This document includes all private spaces where the public are generally admitted, or where the public
can be accommodated (e.g. office buildings, waiting rooms, common areas of apartment buildings).
This document can be applied to improve accessibility of assistance dog teams in the workplace.
This document can be applied to assistance dogs in training and puppies preparing for an assistance
dog role.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments)
applies.
EN 17210:2021, Accessibility and usability of the built environment - Functional requirements
prEN 17984-1:2023, Assistance Dogs - Part 1: Vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purpose of this document, the terms and definitions given in prEN 17984-1:2023 and the
following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
responsible body
service or transport provider, or organization responsible for services and/or built environment and the
implementation of the accessibility measures given in this standard
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4 General provisions for the accessibility for assistance dog teams
4.1 General
Accessibility is a precondition for the full realization of the rights and inclusion of persons with
disabilities in society. For the purpose of this document, accessibility can be understood as the provision
of flexible facilities and environments, either virtual or physical, to accommodate each user’s needs and
preferences. For persons with disabilities this may be any place, space, item or service that is easily
approached, reached, entered, exited from, interacted with, understood or otherwise used [1]. The rights
of persons with disabilities to have full access and fully enjoy and participate in social, economic, cultural,
civil and political life, on an equal basis with others are enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities.
4.2 Barriers
Persons with disabilities face many barriers that hinder full and equal access to their enjoyment of human
rights and full social inclusion. For the purpose of this document the categories of barriers that persons
with disabilities encounter, include the following:
a) Institutional barriers, which include legislation, practices, or processes that actively prohibit or fail
to facilitate access for persons with disabilities.
b) Physical barriers, which prevent access for persons with disabilities to physical environments such
as buildings, roads, transportation, and various indoor and outdoor facilities such as schools,
housing, medical facilities, sporting venues and workplaces.
c) Informational barriers, which prevent access for persons with disabilities, particularly for those with
visual or intellectual impairments, to both the form and content of information that may be provided
on websites, brochures, among many other ways that information is presented in society.
d) Communication barriers, which make it difficult to participate fully in society. Communication
barriers for persons with disabilities can include the failure to provide sign language interpretation
for deaf persons, inaccessible technology such as websites that are inaccessible to screen readers
used by blind persons.
e) Attitudinal barriers, including negative attitudes and lack of understanding about disability issues of
people in society, which present some of the most pervasive barriers to equal access for persons with
disabilities.
f) Cultural and religious barriers, which may prevent persons with disabilities from participating fully
and having access to community life. Cultural and religious barriers may include myths and
stereotypes about disability that are rooted in culture and that generate fear and misunderstanding.
4.3 Specific requirements of assistance dog teams
In order to make public and private spaces more accessible to assistance dog teams and to achieve
universal access, it is necessary to understand the specific requirements which are associated with their
disability, including hidden disabilities:
a) Access to appropriate and timely information shall be provided. Information shall be provided in a
way that allows assistance dog teams to easily orientate themselves within the content and can be
effectively perceived and understood by different perception channels.
EXAMPLE 1 Accessible website, e-mail, audio, video, large print, braille, text-to-speech.
NOTE 1 See 6.4 Accessible information.
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b) Effective communication and interaction provide a safeguard for people with disability and complex
communication needs. Fair, considerate, supportive and respectful tr
...