The British Council is keen to ensure that its building and services are accessible to disabled members of the public. Wherever possible, we have made our building and services accessible. Sometimes however, this is not possible due to security or other restrictions. In these situations we will strive to provide service or access to our building in an alternative way to ensure equality of access for disabled people. To assist disabled visitors, we have set out below details of disabled access at the British Council. We hope this information is helpful.
General physical access
Transport If you are using JR, the West exit of the JR is the nearest exit to the British Council. The JR Iidabashi station has a gentle ramp from the platform to the West. Elevators are also available near the East exit.
If you are using the Yurakucho-line, Nanboku-line, Tozai-line or Toei Oedo-line, you can take the elevator or escalator from the Central gate near the B5 exit to the ground level along Sotobori-dori.
Entrance The British Council is located inside the Kenkyusha Eigo Centre Building. The building has steps and a 1000mm wide ramp with a handrail for wheelchair access.
Elevator There are two lifts, one of which has buttons at an easy height for wheelchair users.
Toilets A wheelchair accessible toilet is located on the 2nd floor.
Parking There is no specific parking for the disabled but this can be arranged at a fee with 48 hours notice.
Floor coverings Internal floor surfaces are flat and carpeted.
Doors Classrooms doors are 800mm wide and a wheelchair can get in and out easily. Office doors have combination locks and electronic doors for security reasons. A member of staff can assist visitors to provide ease of access to the classrooms or our office.
Lighting Internal and external lighting of the building provide adequate light.
Emergency/evacuation The building has an alarm and PA systems for an emergency. All visitors, including disabled visitors, will be assisted in an emergency.
Phones Volume can be easily adjusted to suit the user's hearing needs.
Access for visually-impaired visitors
Signs We provide braille signs on our floor map, classroom numbers and toilet.
Guide dogs Guide dogs are welcome inside the centre.
Access for Deaf/hard of hearing visitors
We currently do not have any hearing loops, minicom or textphones in our centre.
Sign Language None of our staff use sign language. However we can communicate by means of writing with those who have hearing difficulties.
Interpretation We do not offer professional signing interpretation. However we can communicate in English or Japanese by means of writing.
Hearing dogs Hearing dogs are welcome inside the building.
Contact us
We are happy to help disabled people when they need assistance but we would appreciate a minimum of 48 hours notice wherever possible. If you visit us or wish to use our services and feel that they are inaccessible to you, please contact us. We will try to find an alternative way of providing assistance.