Growing up, Jill Moore didn’t go to playgrounds. She dreaded birthday parties because there would be wood chips or climbers or a giant step into the playground that she couldn’t get over.
Moore, 31, was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair full-time. Today, as an inclusive play specialist for Landscape Structures, her job is to ensure that every child has fun at the playground.
“Everybody deserves to play,” Moore says. “It’s as simple as that.”
In her seven years in the playground manufacturing industry, she’s seen a huge shift: inclusive playgrounds are blowing up—in a big way.
“It used to be altruistic, like a ‘Yay, thanks for thinking of us’ kind of thing,” says Moore, who has been a Team USA Paralympic multi-sport athlete. “As more and more people build inclusive playgrounds, they realize how special and different and impactful those spaces are. People want that. People want their community to prioritize that.”
The topic of accessible and inclusive parks and playgrounds is on the agenda at the City Parks Alliance Greater & Greener conference in Seattle, June 21 to 25. Moore, who’s speaking at the conference, talked to Seattle’s Child ahead of her visit. Here’s what we learned.
Battle Point Park. Photo by JiaYing Grygiel
What is an inclusive playground?
An inclusive playground is designed so everyone feels like they belong and everyone can play. It’s welcoming to people of all abilities, whether they have physical challenges like blindness, mobility issues, or sensory processing disorders.
“At their core, it’s about creating a playground in a space that has something for everyone,” Moore says. “That people can use, whatever their needs and abilities may be, and provide(s) an environment where they can thrive.”
Whether a playground meets the inclusive standard isn’t always clear, however.
“It’s kind of a nebulous term,” says Rachel Schulkin, spokeswoman for Seattle Parks and Recreation. “There isn’t a line we all have collectively defined.”
Schulkin adds that disability isn’t just about mobility anymore. Parks and playgrounds are places to build community, relieve stress, and improve health outcomes—everyone is working toward the same goal, but it’s a moving target.
“Parks are what make life livable in urban cities. And we want children, adults, everyone to be able to do that,” Schulkin says. “That’s our goal. One thousand percent.”
Pathways Park integration carousel is wheelchair accessible. Photo cby JiaYing Grygiel
What are some design principles for creating inclusive playgrounds?
The Americans with Disabilities Act’s playground guidelines became law in 2010. New parks and playgrounds must comply with specific requirements, like how steep a slope can be and how many components are at ground level.
But the disability community says it’s not enough. “ADA is the worst you can do by law,” Moore says. “It’s a numbers game. It’s a checklist. It’s the bare minimum.”
For example, Moore says, a steering wheel on a post is considered an ADA element, but it’s not fun. Wood chips are ADA-compliant, but wheelchairs and walkers get stuck in them. Inclusive playgrounds exceed accessibility standards.
There are subtleties that make a playground accessible and inclusive. It’s in the details like pathway width: 3 feet wide meets ADA code, but 5 to 6 feet wide allows Moore to move in her wheelchair with her husband at her side.
It’s about giving users control. With a traditional merry-go-round, wheelchair users have to rely on someone to push them. “If no one comes around, you’re stuck,” Moore says. The We-Go-Round, however, is set flush with the ground and there’s a handhold so you can spin from the inside. (Try the We-Go-Round at Bellevue’s Crossroads Park, at Battle Point Park on Bainbridge Island, and at Forest Park in Everett.)
“People with disabilities, we’re kind of at the mercy of people doing things for us or to us,” Moore says. “I want control. I want to participate with other people.”
An inclusive feature can be something as simple as the molded bucket swings facing opposite directions at Evergreen Park in Bremerton. Kids can choose which way they want to look, at the playground where all the action is, or at nature if they’re feeling overwhelmed.
An inclusive playground provides different levels of challenge. Yesler Terrace Park in Seattle has stacked rubber rings that a wheelchair user or a kid with cerebral palsy can climb. Someone who needs more challenge can choose the complex net climbers. This park also has a saucer swing that fits bigger bodies and provides sensory play as well as a spinner designed at transfer-height where everyone’s facing each other.
Seattle Children’s PlayGarden saucer swing. Photo by JiaYing Grygiel
Are inclusive playgrounds more expensive?
Generally speaking, the material and labor cost for synthetic play area safety surfacing is seven to 10 times more than the engineered wood fiber (wood chips), says Karen O’Connor, strategic advisor for Seattle Parks and Recreation. Ouch.
Some accessible and inclusive play equipment, such as adaptive swings, are similar in cost. But play equipment that’s modified for wheelchairs is more expensive, and inclusive play elements are sometimes custom or require ramps or bridges.
The price tag of an inclusive playground can be a deterrent. And, sometimes, people don’t see a need for it.
“People tend to think inclusive design just means it’s for people with disabilities: ‘Well, how does that affect me?’” Moore says. “But in reality, when we say we’re designing inclusive playgrounds, it’s for everyone. It’s for people with disabilities, also.”
Jill Moore, inclusive playground advocate.
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