Places That Must Be Made Accessible

|4/5/2015 |

Places requiring accessibility are all places (or parts of those places), both new and existing, that are open to the general public. The law specifies the places that must be accessible.

Places requiring accessibility are:

All places open to the public (see details below)
Workplaces in new buildings.
New private residential buildings that have at least 6 residential units (accessibility pertains to public areas and access to the entrance to apartments).

Public places that must be accessible

All new and existing public places must be accessible. Please note that the place can be a building as well as an open place such as a park.

If only part of the place is open to the public (e.g. a manufacturing plant that has a visitor’s center), the accessibility requirement only pertains to this part and to access to this part.

To remove any doubt regarding the range of public places requiring accessibility, the first amendment to the Equal Rights of People with Disabilities Law, 5765–2005, includes a list specifying the places requiring accessibility. Please note that the list is not exhaustive or closed, as every item ends with a broad definition of the nature of the place. Furthermore, the law authorizes the Minister of Justice to add places to this list by means of a decree, without a complex legislative procedure.

Table – Nature of use of a place requiring accessibility

The table includes several representative examples

Nature of use of the place	Examples of places
Offices of a public entity	Offices of a local or regional council/municipality, the meeting hall of a city council/local or regional council, the offices of the mayor/head of a local or regional council/Education division/ Collection division/Social Services department
Place of gathering	Function hall, community center
Sport and leisure	Sports facility, sports hall, swimming pool
Unique services	Public bathroom, bank, public shelter, internet center
Health services	Health clinic, mother and child clinic, emergency services station
Animal health services	Animal hospital, animal clinic
Hospitality and lodging services	Hotel, hostel, guest house
Law and order	Court of law, prison, police station
Education and learning	Kindergarten or daycare center, school, post-secondary learning institution
Cemetery	Funeral hall, monument, burial plots
Performances and entertainment	Cinema, performance hall, discotheque
Religious services	Place of worship, Mikveh
Culture and art	Gallery, museum, library, performance hall, cinema
Vacation and leisure	Nature reserves, national parks, zoo, playground, park
Recording studio	Radio, television studio
Public transportation	Terminal, sea port, bus, taxi and train stations
Catering (food and beverage)	Restaurant, café, cafeteria of a public institution
Lodging for allotted periods of time	Student or worker dormitory, health recuperation center
Visiting places	Historic site, visitor center, nature reserve
Store	Kiosk, supermarket, department store, mall, market
Social services or therapy services	Soup kitchen, shelter or center for battered women, employment and leisure center or place of residence of persons with a disability, center or place of residence of children or the elderly
Voting center	Polling center for national or local elections