A Longitudinal Study of Playground Surfaces to Evaluate Accessibility - Final Report

Limitations

The study is limited in the following ways:

1. Ability to generalize findings to the general population.  Playgrounds are as different as children, each with their own distinguishing personality.  Each one is very different in terms of design, frequency of use, the combination of playground equipment, surface materials, soil characteristics, site conditions, weather and climate.

2. Visitor use may have impact on the surface conditions.  It is impossible to control the number of children using any given public playground.  High visitor use may have an effect on certain surface types.

3. Weather conditions, adverse seasonal changes, sunlight and precipitation may have an effect on certain surface types.

4. Liability associated with sites found to be non-compliant with the standards may affect a playground owner’s willingness to participate in the study.