Accessibility. This is something that I mention in so many of my blog posts because, as a disabled person, it is one of the things that has a huge impact on my life – but I have never dedicated a blog post to writing about it! So, today that changes!
What does accessibility mean?
When I use the term ‘accessible’ (or ‘accessibility’), I am using it to mean when people are not excluded from doing something, using something, or being somewhere, due to their disability. Ideally this means that disabled people are not excluded from participating in everyday life as a result of poor design or implementation – enabling them to live a more ‘independent’ and empowered life!
I want to note here that disabled people are not the only people with access needs. In fact, everyone has access needs, constantly. The only difference is that, much of the time, these access needs are recognised and therefore put in place. For example, if we want to get into a building, we require a door. This is an access need. Without a door, we cannot get in; with a door, we can.
Now you may think this example is a little silly, because it’s so obviously necessary, but something which I have increasingly come to realise, since becoming disabled, is that, whilst there are people with quite complicated access needs, many of access needs for disabled people seem glaringly obvious, but are still not put in place.
So why is accessibility important?
Sometimes people think that taking accessibility into consideration is the same thing as giving disabled people preferential treatment. Access needs can be seen as some sort of luxury, rather than a necessity. But, in reality, the difference between something being accessible or not is the difference between disabled people being able to use something and participate, or not. For us to be able to participate, at the most basic physical level, we just need access. It’s really that simple!
On a personal note, to illustrate how important accessibility is on a human level, I can’t count the number of things that I haven’t been able to do or use since becoming disabled, due not to my illness (although of course some things are because of that), but due to a lack of consideration of my access needs. For example, I used to be quite an active activist, but had to almost completely drop out when I got sick because, although I tried, people were not willing to have the conversation on ways to include me from home, through skype or other communication methods, and people were not willing to try and make events accessible or let me know whether I would be able to bring my wheelchair or not. In fact, they often just ignored the question when I very explicitly asked.
For a long time, I blamed myself, and felt guilty and lazy, like I didn’t care enough, or wasn’t trying hard enough to join. I just couldn’t – and people weren’t open to helping me. And one of the things that was so hurtful about this was that I lost an entire social network: friends, acquaintances, and even people I considered to be second family because, and, whilst I often talked about things that would help enable me to participate, many people just assumed I didn’t want to join anymore, which couldn’t have been further from the truth. It is only really in the last year that I have connected the dots and realised that a lot of this was due to the simple fact of my access needs not being met. The lack of accessibility made me feel like a burden, and caused me a lot of hurt, excluding me from something I enjoyed, considered important, and which gave meaning to my life.
I say this not for pity, but to demonstrate that not having your access needs met often goes much deeper that simply being unable to get into a building because there is no ramp. Lack of access is sadly a continuous feature of existing in a disabled body in a largely inaccessible world and, unsurprisingly, this constant exclusion builds up and is very emotionally taxing. It also causes the loss of social networks – important to everyone, but particularly so for disabled people, who are often forced further into isolation than most. Add to that, there is the constant exhaustion of having to jump through endless hoops to get access needs met, that often fall through last minute through no fault of your own!
So what should be taken into account when talking about accessibility?
I’m not going to provide an exhaustive list of different accessibility needs, you can find a great list of considerations here and here. But here are some general things which it is important to think about when running an event or thinking about the accessibility of something you are creating.
1. Sadly there is no such thing as fully accessible.
There is such a broad range of different disabilities that there is no such thing as fully accessible; it’s just not possible, so it is best to avoid claiming that something meets this description. Just to illustrate this: for many immune-compromised people, masks are an absolute necessity during the pandemic; however, masks are proving quite a problematic for many in the deaf community, due to difficulties lip reading. This creates a conflict in access needs that cannot really be solved.
2. Be open and honest about the access you provide.
Too often I have heard people discussing the organisation of an event, who are ashamed they don’t have wheelchair access in their venue, so explicitly decide not to publicise whether they have access or not. As someone who needs access information at many places I want to go to, I would far rather find the information, even if it is that I cannot go, than have to contact people to find out. On this note, it’s also helpful to signpost clearly who I can ask for more information regarding accessibility. This both demonstrates that it is something you are willing to discuss and keep in mind, but also means I have to expend less energy chasing up whether I am able to come or not.
3. Access needs aren’t something to be ashamed of.
I am definitely someone who very quickly feels guilty for having different access needs from those of many other people. However, this is not necessary; it is no-one’s fault that they have specific access needs, and everyone deserves access to the things they want to participate in.
4. Accessibility should not be behind a paywall and should not have to be arranged in far in advance.
Disabled people should be allowed to be spontaneous too, we shouldn’t have to arrange basic things like train rides 72 hours in advance to get help. If I have to pay extra to use something, as a disabled person (cough!… trains in Germany… cough!), then it is not accessible. Disabled people are statistically more likely to be on a low income or in poverty, so putting their access behind a paywall is just another way of making it inaccessible for many disabled people.
5. It is not just events, but ‘things’ that need to be accessible.
What do I mean by things, well, literally anything. My fairy tales, for example, have been made with access in my mind: the font is large and sans serif, making it easier to read, for many. Websites should be accessible, videos should have captions, play parks should have wheelchair accessible swings… you get the idea, I hope!
6. Accessibility is not the be all and end all of fighting for disabled rights.
Again, in many of the activist spaces in which I participated, the topic of ableism came up only with regard to accessibility – as if that is the only form of discrimination faced by disabled people. In fact, it is only the beginning. We need access, just to be in the room, in order to be able to address other forms of discrimination. Trust me, there is so much more to ableism…. so don’t stop here!
If you tell us we can join, we probably will
Something that I’ve heard a lot, from people organising events, is that they haven’t bothered about accessibility because disabled people won’t want to come. Even writing this down, I’m actually a bit taken aback by it! How, exactly, do they know? Speaking for myself here, if I see an interesting event which has no access information, chances are I probably won’t go, not because I don’t want to, but because I don’t have the energy to expend chasing down the accessibility information – and I certainly doubt I am alone with this.
In my experience, the events that I have been to, which have had the best access information, have been the events where I’ve seen the most disabled people. If we know we are welcome and have been thought about, we are definitely more likely to support an event and make the effort to come.
So, next time you plan an event or make something, even if it requires a little more energy and time from you, please think about accessibility.
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