Time the missing element
Access needs to be considered on a timeline. It is always ongoing. The key elements of access - people, places and technology - aren’t static. There can be changes:
- A person forgets some of their training or a new member of staff hasn’t been trained. As a consequence, someone with access needs is denied access or treated as less than
- A lift is out of order, this information isn’t shared and alternative arrangements aren’t made, access is denied to anyone who needs or wants to use a lift
- A technical upgrade on a website misses out testing with assistive technology. Some features are then inaccessible to users of assistive technology
Access is never done, it’s constantly changing and it's everyone’s responsibility, all of the time.
People
The first step in inclusion is people. You can have the most accessible environment and technology but if the people don’t have the right attitude and approach, it all breaks. When contracting for the BBC, I was surprised on one project that all the team I was working with had great deaf awareness. They had a deaf colleague so the whole team had deaf awareness training. In this video about careers at the BBC, they say they are not perfect but clearly, they are working on this.
And to be clear, no one can ever be perfect on inclusion. People are different, things change, language changes but people are the first step. And that means training and engagement and exploring and breaking down barriers. One of the barriers that deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people often face is the assumption that they are less than, that they can’t do something. That’s definitely a people challenge. Because you never know who you are going to meet, everyone needs to learn how to be inclusive and that’s from doctors to bus drivers. Every inaccessible engagement a person has in their day is a dent in their wellbeing.
- How would a blind person with a guide dog feel, if they’ve booked a taxi and when it arrives the driver says “no dogs?”
- How would you and your partner feel, if you ask the bus driver to lower the ramp for the wheelchair and the driver says “the bus is full” (when it clearly isn’t)?
These incidents happen to disabled people every day. Having to argue for your access rights every day as you go about your life is upsetting, demeaning, exhausting and wrong. Buses, trains, taxis need to be accessible in their own right but they also need to staffed by people with good disability awareness and an understanding of the law.
Places
There is more of an understanding of physical accessibility now. Although sometimes it gets interpreted as meaning wheelchair access only. Environment adaptions can support all different kinds of access and inclusion needs.
- Hearing loops that are regularly tested and checked.
- Strong colour contrasts in physical design such as identifying doors
- Quiet spaces where there is less visual and audio stimulation
- And of course, wheelchair access
If your physical places and the people who staff them aren’t accessible, you are hanging out a sign saying “not welcome”.
Technology
Technology is what we hear most about. Particularly the need to be WCAG compliant and have an accessible website. Improved technology access, supports independence and inclusion. It is a tool that can make things more equal for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people but it doesn’t work in isolation. Somewhere down the line the disabled user may need to deal with a human. If that human patronises them, or treats them as ‘less than’, access breaks.
Time
So where does time come in? People, Places and Technology all need development and engagement over time. Things change, language changes, people forget. Great you did the disability awareness training or deaf awareness training. But do it again if it was more than 3 years ago. Physical first aiders need to refresh their training every 3 years. This should be the minimum for disability awareness and inclusion training.
And Places? So many places are meant to be accessible and aren’t. How often do you hear:
- The lift is broken
- The hearing loop is out of order
- The disabled toilet is unusable
- No space on the bus for a wheelchair
- Assistance dogs being refused in restaurants or taxis
Someone needs to be checking all those access elements are still working. This needs to be in your access and inclusion plan.
And Technology well its ongoing always. Any changes need to tested and checked. Our understanding changes too. What is learnt in research and testing needs to be implemented.
So whatever fantastic things you have done and however accessible you were at a point in time, don’t stop. Consider, what needs to be done next day, next week, or next year, have a plan.
And if there are issues like lifts that frequently break. Staff refusing access to wheelchair users or assistance dogs in buses and taxis. That needs to be dealt with. Organisations need to look at the framework of People, Places and Technology over Time and see where access is broken.
Things will go wrong, however hard you work, however much you do, things will break or not work properly. But that’s a learning experience an opportunity to do better. Say sorry, have a conversation make improvements and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Be vigilant over time.
Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people have a right to equality of access. Would it be acceptable for a Cinema to announce:
- Sorry, the stairs don’t work and nobody can get upstairs to screen 3
- Sorry, the cinema sound system doesn’t work so you will have to watch the film in silence
If this is not acceptable, why is it accepted that ‘the lift doesn’t work’ or the cinema loop or infra-red system doesn’t work? Sounds like a two-tier society.
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others - George Orwell, Animal Farm
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