Augmenting Accessibility for the Dorothy Wilson

Interpretative Trail and the Parque Natural Metropolitano

Leah Damo

April 24, 2018

McGill University PFSS 2018

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Host Information

Parque Natural Metropolitano

Avenue Juan Pablo II

Phone: (507) 232-5552

Fax: (507) 232-5615

Web: parquemetropolitano.org

Supervisor Contact Information:

Yarabí Vega José Palacios

ymv@parquemetropolitano.org jpalacios@parquemetropolitano.org

Time Spent on Project

Days on site: 6 Days off site: 20

Acknowledgements

I would like to first thank Parque Natural Metropolitano Director Dionora Víquez for the

opportunity to work in the internship program of the PNM. I would also like to thank Yarabí

Vega, José Palacios, Karen Díaz, and Elva Denvers for their varying levels of supervision and

ideas throughout the project. Further, thank you to all the PNM employees in general who were

welcoming and willing to answer any questions I had, despite my errors in my Spanish even as

my level was improving over the months. Lastly, thank you to my fellow interns at the PNM,

Leydianis, Jasmin, and Tor for being great colleagues and supporting me even as we worked on

different projects.

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Executive Summary

This project works with the Dorothy Wilson Interpretative Trail in the Parque Natural

Metropolitano located in Panamá on Avenue Juan Pablo II. The trail was inaugurated in 2012

with a distance of 300 meters and informative panels on the nature that can be seen on the trail

and in the entire park. This trail is an application of the discourse of “accessible tourism” which

seeks to answer the question of how can we make cultural and recreational sites more accessible

to persons with disabilities for citizens and foreign tourists alike.

The question that guides my research is, what interactive programming and

improvements can be implemented on the Dorothy Wilson trail to increase its accessibility and

attractiveness to visitor? With this question, I aim to achieve two goals: 1) create a virtual,

interactive guide to disseminate the information of the trail in a new way with the incorporation

of QR code technology, 2) help the park increase the accessibility of their trail and facilities with

an investigation of international standards and examples of accessible tourism.

The methods to answer this question are divided into two parts to correspond to the two

goals. I decided, in collaboration with some employees, to make codes for general information

that send the user to the PNM site and codes for the guide that send them to a new site with the

information from the panels that are already on the trail.

For the list of suggestions, I reviewed literature to understand the situation of persons

with disabilities in Panamá and international recommendations to make sites more accessible.

Using this information, I developed some categories to compare characteristics of the PNM,

creating ideas for improvement.

In the end, there are six codes for general park information and four for the trail guide.

The site for the guide includes the text and diagrams from the panels, new photos, and

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instructions to show users how they can utilize the Voice function on their smartphones to read

the text on the site aloud. The list of suggestions includes the following topics and

recommendations:

- Route to the park from bus stop: look into widening the sidewalk, maintain the ground

clean of leaves, offer a shuttle bus service from a central location

- Parking: designate 2 spaces for persons with disabilities

- Visitors’ center (entrance, shop, bathrooms): add a ramp to go up the two small stairs,

widen the doors and the bathroom stalls

- Ranchitos: add guide bars along the ground

- Picnic tables: lengthen the table top for use by a person in a wheelchair

- Garden area w/ benches: add space next to benches for use by a person in a wheelchair

- Introductory sign: lower it, enlarge text, add more details about the trail characteristics

- Handrails: replace the PVC pipe with a more durable material

The guide permits a more personalized experience for visitors to the Dorothy Wilson trail

and the list of suggestions generates new ideas to reinitiate the discussion on the ways the PNM

can improve the accessibility of their protected area. With the implementation of even a couple

of the suggestions, the PNM can attract more people from the populations they wish to serve.

Although the PNM already has many positive aspects to make their site accessible to

persons with disabilities, they have to continue to work to improve and keep their facilities as

accessible as possible since accessible tourism is changing and new ideas are constantly arriving.

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Resumen Ejecutivo

Este proyecto trabaja con el sendero interpretativo Dorothy Wilson en el Parque Natural

Metropolitano ubicado en Panamá, por la Avenida Juan Pablo II. El sendero se inauguró en 2012

con una distancia de 300 metros y paneles informativos de la naturaleza que se ve por el sendero

y por el PNM en general. Este sendero representa una forma de aplicación del discurso del

“turismo accesible” que se trata de cómo podemos hacer sitios culturales y recreativas más

accesible a las personas con discapacidades tanto por los ciudadanos como por los extranjeros

que visitan.

La pregunta que guía mi investigación es, ¿que programa interactivo y mejoras pueden

ser implementados por el sendero Dorothy Wilson para aumentar su accesibilidad y atractivo a

los visitantes? Con esta pregunta, deseo lograr dos metas: 1) crear una guía interactiva virtual

para diseminar la información del sendero en una manera nueva con la incorporación de

tecnología de códigos QR, 2) ayudar al parque mejorar la accesibilidad del sendero y de sus

facilidades con una investigación de estándares y ejemplos internacionales del turismo accesible.

Con estos objetivos, el PNM sería capaz ajustar sus estrategias de gestión por el parque para que

sirva una audiencia más amplia de la población panameña y extranjera.

Los métodos para responder a esta pregunta se dividen en dos partes para corresponder a

las dos metas. Decidí en colaboración con algunos empleos de hacer códigos por información

general que se manda el usuario al sitio del PNM y códigos por la guía que se mandan a un sitio

nuevo con la información de los paneles que ya existen en el sendero.

Por la lista de sugerencias, revisé la literatura para entender la situación de personas con

discapacidades en Panamá y recomendaciones internacionales para hacer sitios más accesibles.

Usando esta información desarrollo algunas categorías para comparar las características del

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PNM, creando ideas por mejoras.

Al final, hay seis códigos por información general y cuatro por la guía del sendero. El

sitio por la guía incluye el texto y diagramas de los paneles, nuevas fotos, e instrucciones para

mostrar los usadores cómo utilizar la función de voz en los smartphones para leer el sitio a fuera.

La lista de sugerencias incluye estas siguientes temas y recomendaciones:

- Ruta al parque desde la parada del bus: averiguar de ensanchar la vereda, mantener el

suelo limpio de hojas, ofrecer un servicio del autobús desde un lugar central

- Estacionamiento: designar 2 espacios por personas con discapacidades

- El centro de visitantes (la entrada, la tienda, los baños): añadir una rampa para subir los

des escaleritas, ampliar las puertas y el área del servicio

- Ranchitos: añadir barras guías por el suelo

- Mesas de camping: alargar la mesa por una silla de ruedas

- Área jardín con las bancas: añadir espacio a lado de las bancas por una silla de ruedas

- Panel introductorio: bajarlo, ampliar el texto y añadir más detalles sobre el sendero

- Pasamanos: reemplazar el PVC con un material más duro

La guía permite una experiencia más personalizada por los visitantes al sendero y la lista

de sugerencias genera nuevas ideas para reiniciar la discusión de las maneras en que el PNM

puede mejorar la accesibilidad de su área protegida. Con la implementación de siquiera pocas de

las sugerencias, el PNM se puede atraer más personas de las poblaciones que desea servir.

Aunque el PNM ya tiene muchos aspectos positivos para hacer su sitio accesible a las

personas con discapacidad, el turismo accesible está cambiando y se llegan nuevas ideas

constantemente pues el PNM tiene que seguir trabajando para mejorar y mantener sus facilidades

lo más accesible posible.

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Introduction

The service industry makes up 77% of Panamá’s economy and while much of this comes

from the canal and finances, a large enough portion of it is based in tourism to make Panamá the

third most competitive country for tourism in Latin America (GDP – Composition by Sector of

Origin; “Panamá, el tercero en la competitividad turística de la región”). As Panamá works to

grow its tourism industry, the government works to create a more inclusive society for persons

with disabilities, which as of 2010, represent a little over 10% of their citizenry (Ferro Ferer

2008 8). These two priorities merge in the global field of accessible tourism that aims to make

tourism and cultural and recreation sites more accessible to both national and foreign populations

with disabilities. The literature of this field not only covers standards for the construction of new

sites, but ways to adjust existing sites to them easier to access and to develop interactive

programming, overall creating a more inclusive environment for persons with disabilities and

enabling them to enjoy tourism sites, including outdoor recreation sites.

The Parque Natural Metropolitano (PNM) was created by law in 1985 as a protected area

under the care of a patronato that includes the principal representatives of the public and private

sector of Panamá City (Viquez). It is known as “el Pulmón de la Ciudad” and is home to more

than 280 plant species and 390 animal species (Viquez). The PNM places a large emphasis on

environmental education and so offers a variety of programs, such as guided tours, an Earth Day

festival, and workshops for students. In line with the international movement to make outdoor

recreation and tourism sites more accessible to wider populations, the PNM created the Dorothy

Wilson Interpretative Trail in 2012 with the intention that it would serve as a place for persons

with disabilities, those of older age, and preschool children to interact with and immerse

themselves in nature. The trail is paved with concrete and features rest areas along its 300m

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length as well as three panels with information about the flora and fauna that visitors can witness

on the trail and within the PNM. However, in the six years since its inauguration, the Dorothy

Wilson Trail has been underutilized by its target audiences and PNM priorities have tended to

focus on other areas of the park’s management.

Question & Objectives

Based on these two realities of the PNM’s accessibility programming, the question I

sought to answer was what interactive programming & improvements can be implemented for

the Dorothy Wilson Trail to increase its accessibility & attractiveness to visitors? Answering this

question will help the park understand where they can target management strategies for the trail

and their facilities so that they can be better utilized by its target audiences, both tourist and

national alike.

My first objective with this question is to make the trail more interactive and accessible

through the creation of a virtual guide that disseminates information in a new way than the

existing signs. By incorporating QR code technology, this guide creates a more engaging

experience for visitors and develops the interpretative element of the trail by allowing for a wider

audience to enjoy the information, overall expanding the environmental education opportunities

the park offers. My second objective was to help the park increase the accessibility of the

Dorothy Wilson Trail and their facilities by researching international standards and examples of

accessible tourism to develop suggestions for improvement.

Methods

Trail Guide

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I began by defining a list of topics that would translated into the QR codes. This was

done in collaboration with Elva Denvers and Karen Diaz, who suggested following the existing

informative panels on the trail and also creating QR codes for the dissemination of general park

information, such as Volunteer Opportunities. With the topics defined, I first created the general

park information QR codes, linking them to existing pages on the PNM website. I then created

the site that would house the Dorothy Wilson trail guide and to which the QR codes would link.

The site creation included transcribing the text and diagrams from the informative panels into

electronic form, revising some of the text for grammatical errors or to make it clearer, and

finding photos to accompany the information. The next step was to create QR codes for the

different trail guide topics that would each link to the corresponding page on the site. With the

general park information and the trail guide QR codes created, I researched potential methods of

installation to suggest to the PNM.

List of Suggestions

In order to development the list of suggestions for improvement for the park, I began with

reviewing literature from a number of international and national sources to 1) understand the

realities of persons with disabilities in Panamá and government programs and policies regarding

persons with disabilities, 2) learn more about forms of accessible tourism and, 3) find

recommendations and standards for making outdoor recreation sites more accessible. From this

latter part of the literature review, I developed categories of characteristics by which to assess the

accessibility of the PNM’s facilities and the trail and made observations on these characteristics.

By comparing my observations against the standards from the literature, I found the areas in

which changes could be made to improve accessibility and developed suggestions for making

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these changes as my second product for the PNM.

Results

Trail Guide

The QR codes for the general park information cover six topics: Fondos, Infraestructura,

Servicios y facilidades, Producto a la vente, Voluntariados, y Actividades. The Dorothy Wilson

trail guide site has four topic pages that each have a QR code: Introducción, Los habitantes del

PNM, La corteza de los árboles, Las aves y sus adaptaciones para la alimentación. The trail

guide also includes a page informing visitors how they can use the speech mode accessibility

feature on their smartphones (both iPhone & Android) in order to read out the text on the trail

guide site. The trail guide site can be accessed at: https://senderodorothywilson.blogspot.com/. In

terms of installation for both the general information QR codes and the trail guide ones, I suggest

ordering weatherproof stickers as a low-cost, easily-customized way to install the codes in

multiple areas of the park.

Review of Literature

My research for this project began with developing a base understanding of the situation

of persons with disabilities in Latin America and Panamá. The estimates for the portion of the

Latin American population that have special capacities vary from 10%, as estimated by the

InterAmerican Development Bank, to 20%, as estimated by the World Bank in 2004 (de Garcia

2006 152). Turning to Panamá specifically, the 2000 census asked, “¿algún miembro de la casa

presenta handicap físicas o mentales? ¿Qué tipo de handicap presenta?” and received a rate of

prevalence of 1.84% (de Garcia 2006 162). It is important to note that some of these rates of

prevalence of special capacities gathered for nineteen Latin American countries may be lower

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due to unfamiliar vocabulary of the questions, as the questions generally avoid using the more

common terms such as mute or paralytic (de Garcia 2006 165).

The Primera Encuesta Nacional de Discapacidad (PENDIS) in 2006 generated a new

estimation that the population of Panamanians with a disability represent 11.3% of the total

population (Ferro Ferer 2008 8). This study surveyed 15,000 households and found that 51.7% of

the households in indigenous areas had a member of the family that presented a disability, while

the percentage is lower in urban areas where 30.1% of the households had a member of the

family that presented a disability (Primera Encuesta Nacional de Discapacidad 2006 38).

PENDIS also looked at the type of disabilities that were exhibited by area and found that, for

urban areas, 23% of the households had a member that exhibited multiple disabilities, while the

next most common disabilities were visual or physical, both with a rate of prevalence of 12%

(Primera Encuesta Nacional de Discapacidad 2006 139).

Source: Primera Encuesta Nacional de Discapacidad. Panamá, 2006. 139.

The 2010 census also asked households about members with disabilities and found that

the most prevalent disability was physical, followed by blindness, mental, then deafness (Guerra

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Rodriguez 2010 3). It also showed that the number of persons with disabilities increases as age

increases which is shown by the following graph that also breaks down each age bracket into

type of disability (Guerra Rodriguez 2010 11).

Source: Guerra Rodriguez, Joslyn Anays. “Situación de las personas con discapacidad en Panamá.” Ministerio de

Economía y Finanzas: Atlas Social de Panamá, 2010.

In analyzing the 2010 census data, Guerra Rodgriguez aims to show that the concept of

disability is not confined to a single “enfermedad” and that the demographics of persons with

disabilities is just as varied as the actual disabilities they exhibit (2010 17-18).

In order to further understand the situation of persons with disabilities in Panamá, I also

looked into the Panamanian government’s programs and policies regarding persons with

disabilities. Policies prior to the 1990s were focused on rehabilitation and provision of special,

segregated education for persons with disabilities, originating with the Escuela Hellen Keller

founded in 1942 (Política de Discapacidad de la República de Panamá 2009 14). With the

creation of the Dirección Nacional de Discapacidad in 1997, government policy shifted to focus

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on social inclusion, integration and provision of citizens’ rights for persons with disabilities and

the country began to see more laws and administrative measures to serve this population of the

country, such as incentivizing for business the hiring of persons with disabilities and

guaranteeing access to the physical environment (Política de Discapacidad de la República de

Panamá 2009 15). In 2004, they created the Secretaría Nacional para la Integración Social de las

Personas con Discapacidad, or SENADIS, with the aim to “abré el compás para la participación

ciudadana tanto de las organizaciones de las personas con discapacidad como de la sociedad civil

en general,” indicating a desire to collaborate with other stakeholders on their efforts to make a

more inclusive society (Política de Discapacidad de la República de Panamá 2009 15).

These efforts include general policies on increasing accessibility to recreation, cultural

activities, and tourism such as supporting non-profits in the development of activities and events

that allow the participation of persons with disabilities, as well as on making transportation

accessible by having adequate pedestrian spaces and accessible public transport facilities for

people with reduced mobility (Política de Discapacidad de la República de Panamá 2009 35-37,

43-44). SENADIS contributes to these policies with documents such as the “Desarrollo de la

Normativa Nacional de Accesibilidad en temas de Urbanística y Arquitectura” that lists

conditions to allow populations with disabilities to access infrastructure in order to contribute to

the strengthening of the social integration process (Ferro Ferer 2008). SENADIS also continues

to drive national discourse on these populations through measures such as resolutions to reaffirm

terminology and to promote a cultural of equality (Resolución No 108-2016).

Panama’s government policies that focus on infrastructure are representative of a larger

global trend towards incorporating universal design, which is “a paradigm that extends the

concepts of continuous pathways, access and mobility, and barrier-free environments to

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incorporate intergenerational and lifespan planning that recognizes the nexus b/w ageing,

disability and the continuum of ability of people over lifespan” (Darcy 2009 34). In the past

decade, there has an increasing application of universal design principals to the tourism and

recreation industry, which corresponds to the UN Convention for the Rights of People with

Disabilities in 2006 that specifically identified the rights of people with disabilities to culture,

recreation, and tourism (Darcy 2009 36). The field of accessible tourism has come to be defined

as “a process of enabling people with disabilities and seniors to function independently and with

equity and dignity through the delivery of universal tourism products, services and environments

(adapted from OCA 1999). The definition is inclusive of the mobility, vision, hearing and

cognitive dimensions of access” (Darcy 2006 4). These universal tourism products, services and

environments cover a wide range of tourism activities and are increasingly including outdoor

recreation areas. This has led governments around the world to create manuals that define

standards of accessibility for outdoor recreation areas, such as the USDA Accessibility

Guidebook for Outdoor Recreation & Trails and the Plan de Accesibilidad para personas

discapacitadas en áreas silvestres protegidas (ASP) del estado (Boudeguer Simonetti 2006).

The overall objectives of these accessibility plans should include not only the application

of the concept of accessibility, but also the promotion of maintenance of accessibility, the

adaption of accessibility to the services offered, and the promotion of accessibility as part of the

quality of the educational and recreational experience (Boudeguer Simonetti 2006 43). The

manuals cover a variety of standards for outdoor recreation areas, from minimum dimensions for

bathrooms to features that can be incorporated on accessible trails to methods of information

dissemination. Recommendations include: bathrooms with dimensions of 190cm x 180cm

(Boudeguer Simonetti 2010), picnic tables with at least 48.5 cm between the edge of the table

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and the table legs and a space next to benches of 91.5cm x 122cm to accommodate wheel chairs

(Accessibility Guidebook for Outdoor Recreation and Trails 2012), 1 reserved handicap parking

space for every 25 parking spaces indicated with signs (Ferro Ferer 2008), handrails not made of

metal so they won’t heat up (Boudeguer Simonetti 2006), the provision of information on the

type of surface and available rest areas before the beginning of a path (Boudeguer Simonetti

2010), and many others.

List of Suggestions w/ Appendix of Photos & References

The standards from the latter part of the literature review were used to develop the

suggestions for improvement that appear in the table below. There are citations when a

suggestion was pulled directly from a document so that the PNM can refer to the documents as

they desire and understand from where the suggestions come. Additionally, there are photos

attached to visually reference the status of some of the topics.

Tema Estatus Sugerencias para mejorar

Ruta al parque

desde la parada

del bus

- Al lado de la calle sin vereda

(Imagen 1)

- Típicamente, el lado de la calle

está llena de hojas y otras cosas

(Imagen 2)

- Hablar con el gobierno para ensanchar el

lado de la calle o añadir una vereda

- Mantener el suelo limpio de las hojas para

hacer la ruta más fácil para navegar

- Ofrecer un servicio de autobús con el van

desde un lugar central (como de Albrook

terminal)

Estacionamiento

- No hay un espacio designado por

personas con capacidades

especiales

- Designar 2 espacios con señales por

personas con discapacidades i

Entrada del

centro de

visitantes

- Dos escaleras en frente de la

entrada principal desde el

estacionamiento (Imagen 3)

- La rampa al edificio está en el

lado del estacionamiento y se puede

ser bloqueada por un coche

(Imagen 4)

- Añadir una rampa en frente de la entrada

principal desde el estacionamiento para subir

estas escaleras

- No permitir estacionamiento en el espacio

que bloquea la rampa

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La tienda del

centro de

visitantes

- La puerta tiene ancho de 85cm - Ampliarla al mínimo por 5cm (para lograr el

mínimo de 90cm) ii

Los baños del

centro de

visitantes

- La puerta tiene ancho de 84cm

(Imagen 5)

- Las dimensiones del área del

servicio son 100cm por 104cm

- La puerta del área del servicio

tiene ancho de 64cm

- La distancia entre el servicio y la

puerta del área del servicio es 36cm

(Imagen 6)

- Faltan barras de soporte

- Ampliar la puerta principal por 6cm (para

lograr el mínimo de 90cm) iii

- Ampliar la puerta del área del servicio por

16cm para lograr un ancho mínimo de 80cm iv

- Ampliar el área del servicio para lograr un

área despejada de 90cm entre el servicio y la

puerta v

- Añadir barras de soporte

Ranchitos - Faltan barras de guía por el suelo

en las entradas (Imágenes 7 y 8)

- Añadir barras guías por el suelo

(ubicaciones indicado en las imágenes con las

flechas) vi

Mesas de

camping de los

ranchitos

- La distancia entre el borde y las

patas de la mesa es 19cm (Imagen

9)

- Alargar la mesa por 29,5cm para lograr un

ancho de 48,5cm para que una silla de ruedas

pueda sentar a la mesa vii

Área jardín con

las bancas

- El espacio a lado de las bancas

está en frente de la entrada (Imagen

10)

- Añadir un espacio al otro lado de las bancas

por una silla de ruedas y para que no bloquee

la entrada

- Este espacio debe ser 91,5cm por 122cm viii

Panel

introductorio

por el sendero

- Mide a la altura de 154cm y el

tamaño del texto es 5cm (Imagen

11)

- Falta información de la

accesibilidad del sendero (Imagen

12)

- Bajar el panel y ampliar el texto

- Añadir información sobre la accesibilidad: ix

- distancia del sendero

- tipo de superficie

- áreas de descanso

- paneles informativos

*Se recomienda también añadir esta

información al sitio de web, que de este

momento solo tiene una descripción general

del sendero

Pasamanos - Hecho de PVC y roto en algunas

partes (Imagen 13)

- Reemplazarlos con algo más duro y

permanente

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Apéndice – Imágenes

Imagen 1 – Ruta al parque

Imagen 2 – Ruta al parque

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Imagen 3 – Las escaleras a la entrada principal

Imagen 4 – La rampa

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Imagen 5 – La puerta principal del baño

Imagen 6 – La puerta y el servicio del área del servicio

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Imagen 7 – Entrada al ranchito

Imagen 8 – La entrada al ranchito

Lugar donde añadir

barras de guía

Lugares donde añadir

barras de guía

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Imagen 9 – Mesa de camping en el ranchito

Imagen 10 – Área de descanso y las bancas

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Imagen 11 – Ubicación y altura del panel introductorio por el sendero

Imagen 12 – Panel introductorio por el sendero

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Imagen 13 – Pasamanos de PVC

Referencias por la Lista de Sugerencias

i Ferro Ferer, Guillermo, Eneida Ferrer Ferguson, Laura Sanjur, and Alvaro Visuetti. Desarrollo

de la Normativa Nacional de Accesibilidad en temas de Urbanística y Arquitectura. Secretaria

Nacional de Discapacidad, 2008.

ii Ferro Ferer, Guillermo. Desarrollo de la Normativa Nacional de Accesibilidad en temas de

Urbanística y Arquitectura. 2008.

iii Ferro Ferer, Guillermo. Desarrollo de la Normativa Nacional de Accesibilidad en temas de

Urbanística y Arquitectura. 2008.

iv Boudeguer Simonetti, Andrea, Pamela Prett Weber, and Patricia Squella Fernández. Manual de

Accesiblidad Universal. Corporación Ciudad Accesible, 2010.

http://www.ciudadaccesible.cl/wp-

content/uploads/2012/06/manual_accesibilidad_universal1.pdf Date Accessed: 25 January 2018

v Ferro Ferer, Guillermo. Desarrollo de la Normativa Nacional de Accesibilidad en temas de

Urbanística y Arquitectura. 2008.

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vi Boudeguer Simonetti, Andrea. Manual de Accesiblidad Universal. 2010.

vii Boudeguer Simonetti, Andrea. Manual de Accesiblidad Universal. 2010.;

Accessibility Guidebook for Outdoor Recreation and Trails. United States Department of

Agriculture Forest Service, 2012.

https://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/accessibility/pubs/pdfpubs/

pdf10072014/1223-2806P-AGORT-COL-08-20-13_Errata2Fixed_300dpi2.pdf. Date Accessed:

25 January 2018.

viii Accessibility Guidebook for Outdoor Recreation and Trails. 2012. ix Accessibility Guidebook for Outdoor Recreation and Trails. 2012.

Discussion

The review of literature reveals that there is a substantial part of the Panamanian

population that would benefit from measures to increase accessibility and that the government

does have general policies that aim to make the country more accessible, such as with

transportation or recreation in the Polticia de Discapacidad de la República de Panamá. In

observing the characteristics of and the barriers to accessibility for the PNM, it becomes evident

that the government and SENADIS’s policies do not translate into realities of accessibility for

persons with disabilities, the most prominent example being the lack of an accessible route from

the public bus stop to the PNM.

The policies and the literature on accessibility and tourism can tend to focus on the ideals

that should be striven for in order to create a more inclusive world, as can be seen in the

Resolución No 108-2016, but these ideals need to be accompanied by concrete examples of what

creating that more inclusive world looks like, such as those provided by the accessibility manuals

for urban planning or outdoor recreation sites. The PNM’s other barriers to accessibility largely

lie in the dimensions of their facilities with the bathrooms, entrance, and other aspects but

fortunately these are topics frequently covered in accessibility manuals. Further areas for

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improvement relate to characteristics of the Dorothy Wilson trail that are positive for

accessibility in their intention but could be slightly adjusted to make them even more accessible,

such as the garden area with benches that could have a space next to them or the picnic table that

could be extended so that both characteristics could be enjoyed by someone who uses a

wheelchair (Accessibility Guidebook for Outdoor Recreation and Trails 2012). This being said,

the very existence of the Dorothy Wilson trail represents a desire and conscious effort to include

persons with disabilities in the enjoyment of the PNM.

Limitations

A limitation of this project is my own lack of knowledge on coding or creating websites,

which when accompanied by an equally low understanding on the part of my supervisors as well,

limited the ideas we generated and the things we thought possible for the guide. Some features,

such as incorporating audio, required a higher level of web-making and was not something I had

the time to learn. While I was able to work around this by including instructions for visitors to

use Speech modes on their own phones, I believe that we may have overlooked some ways to

make the virtual trail guide even more interactive.

A second limitation relates to the list of suggestions, of which some are costly and

perhaps will be difficult for the PNM to implement. The park already has a management strategy

and because the Dorothy Wilson Trail has been underutilized, much of this strategy focuses on

other areas of the park. Furthermore, some of the suggestions, such as those relating to

expanding the bathrooms to make them accessible for a person who uses a wheelchair, involve

heavy construction and so would require more resources.

A final limitation, is that the Dorothy Wilson Trail is an example of accessibility through

26

segregation. This trail was designed specifically for persons with disabilities, people of an older

age, and preschoolers and constructed directly for that audience. The literature largely suggests

that it is best to convert existing sites into accessible ones or to develop sites that do not separate

persons with disabilities from persons without in these audiences’ utilization of these sites. This

limitation does not diminish the merit of the trail, it simply calls the question of how can other

aspects of the PNM be made more accessible?

Implications

This project has resulted in increased options for accessible interaction on the Dorothy

Wilson trail through the creation of a virtual interpretative trail guide. It allows for a more

personalized experience as visitors to the trail use their own cellphones that are customized to

their preferences, for example visitors can use a speech mode to read out the text or might have

the colors of their screen adjusted as they need.

This project also generates new ideas and reinitiates a discussion on the ways that the

PNM can increase the accessibility of their trail and site and hopefully, with the implementation

of even a couple suggestions, the PNM can attract more of their target populations to the

Dorothy Wilson trail.

Conclusion

The Parque Natural Metropolitano has many positive aspects that make this protected

area accessible to persons with disabilities – the sheer presence of the Dorothy Wilson Trail,

which is the only one of its kind in Panamá, as well as some of its characteristics such as the

guide bars along the floor and the benches with no sharp edges, show the foundation of creating

27

an accessible outdoor recreation site.

As governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations around the world work

together to develop the discourse on accessible tourism and standards for their own countries, we

will see the creation of concrete visions of how to attain a more accessible society. Panamá has

institutions primed to develop plans for its own population and as it does so, the Parque Natural

Metropolitano can concurrently work on expanding its own accessibility. This project has

resulted in just some adjustments that the PNM can make in order to improve its accessibility

and increase the ways that it serves persons with disabilities, both foreigners and Panamanians

alike.

28

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