American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The main focus of this paper is to investigate the perception of learners with mobility constraints on environmental accessibility elements, simple random technique was used to select one hundred and twenty two students with mobility constraints in three (3) tertiary institution in Oyo State. It was deduced from the findings that most buildings in the schools are not accessible to learners with mobility constraints. Blindness imposes a great limitation to the overall wellbeing of an individual for the singular reason of inability to move around independently. People with severe visual limitation are often dependent on others or on artificial aid for independent travels. They often get frustrated and sometimes get stranded. Apart from barriers that are structural within the environment, (i.e. buildings and other constructions) there are many other designs which constitute hindrances and make the environment both inaccessible and unfriendly to person with physical impairment. Example of such includes simple home appliances, machines and tools as well as many other utilities; such as automobiles, computers, lifts, travelators etc. It was recommended from the findings that accessible elements should be incorporated into the school environment. Learners with mobility impairments, require sufficient space to approach and open doors. Additionally, since doors with significant resistance will be difficult to open for learners with mobility impairments, they should not be used at entrances. Clearance space is required beyond the latch side of doors to provide for optimum maneuverability. Latch-side space of at least 18 inches is required for forward approaches, and the clearance space in front of the door must be at least 60 inches deep for the pull side of doors.