Analysis on accessibility reference points shows a lack of international unity - more specifically within the European community - regarding criteria to be considered in order to guarantee universal accessibility.

This concern remains and different organisations and the European Community itself are creating reports, forums and even networks in order to work on specifying a European accessibility standard that guarantees universal accessibility as far as possible.

As a reaction to the lack of unity round a standard, the Adapta group has developed an advanced Accessibility Model that guarantees maximum accessibility.

The Model has been defined working from knowledge of people's needs gleaned from over 120 years experience in improving the quality of life for elderly or disabled people in the MATIA Group's socio-healthcare field.

The Adapta Accessibility Model also follows international best practices for which it maintains a continuous monitoring system.

The Model is based on the following concepts:

• Functional diversity: this concept refers to people's variety of skills: physical, intellectual, sensorial (visual, auditory), organic.
  Improvements to accessibility in the services, products and infrastructures not only provide quality to elderly and disabled people but also to all people with reduced capacities for different reasons throughout their lives: people with small children in pushchairs, pregnant women, people with a temporary injury, etc.
• Standardisation: integrating the segment of people with accessibility needs into everyday life.
• Autonomy: the Model takes autonomy into account when accessing services, so that these people can enjoy places and services without needing any help.
• Access-Universal Design: guaranteeing access to standard services for all people independently of their capabilities.
  We all benefit from reducing barriers, adding value and quality to services. 
• Innovation: a project based on a model that incorporates new concepts and new technologies.

Based on these concepts, the Adapta team of professionals has defined the chain of accessibility for each type of functional diversity in order to specify target measures to guarantee top quality service, safety and comfort.

This analysis was done from the perspective of each functional diversity aspect, given that the user needs to know if an establishment or service offers an appropriate service for their specific need.

The model distinguishes 5 types of functional diversity:

The Adapta access model:

• Identifies criteria that condition accessibility
• Establishes measures to diagnose the accessibility level
• Enables identification of improvement plans
• Prioritises actions to improve accessibility
• Distinguishes the chain of value for each activity
• Provides a basis to develop specific advanced and dynamic models