What Does Accessible Mean?

Think to yourself for a minute and reflect on what you picture when someone says "accessible."

Is the font big? Are there captions on the screen? Is there a ramp? Can you sit down for all of the activity? Is there unscented soap? At what point do the accomodations stop because it is "accessible enough?"

If we look at the dictionary definition of accessible, it's just "capable of being reached" according to Merriam-Webster. So, who is not within reach?

This is something that a lot of people struggle with. Disability, as we defined it, is very vast and all encompassing. It can be hard to deem a space "accessible" because what is accessible for some people, still isn't accessible for others.

In rather general terms, when we talk about accessibility, we talk about physical impairments. The most commonly recognized ones being people in wheelchairs, people with blindness, and people who are D/deaf and Hard of Hearing. If something is accessible to people in wheelchairs, there are normally ramps, handrails, elevators, and things at lower heights to accomodate people who are not at average eye level. All these features are ADA compliant, so thank you ADA act! Now, most houses must disclose if they are ADA compliant or not, and insitiutions are subject to fine and/or lawsuit if their spaces are not ADA compliant.

However, there are a lot of disabilities that do not ender the person as a wheelchair user. When you're watching the news or there's a live broadcast on TV, you can enable live captioning. Since 1990, if something is airing on television, it's required to have captioning availble for D/deaf and HoH individuals. I grew up with a father who could not hear. He is lowercase d deaf and mainly identifies as someone with severe hearing loss. He's lived his whole life like this, so I've lived my whole life with captions on the TV. Spaces that are accessible to wheelchairs users who can hear just fine are not always accessible to my dad. If there is a speaker and my dad can't get a good enough view to lip read, the whole event is a wash; he can't understand much of what's going on. If the lights are too dim and there's too much ambiant noise, his hearing aids can't help either.

A common phrase in our house is "it's too dark, I can't hear you!" How light it is outside is a huge accessibility issue for my family. If you're in a wheelchair, not as much. If you're blind, then all of the captioning things that my father needs won't help at all. Lipreading, sign language, visual aides. Not super helpful if vision is the issue, but it makes spaces accessible for my dad.

My uncle, Doug, and my sibling, Lu, are both on the autism spectrum. My uncle is more high support high needs while Lu is more mild support and at times low needs. Both of them struggle with loud noises, new foods, and changes to their routine. While my uncle has lived in a group home since age eight to ensure he has the round the clock care that he needs, my sibling is currently getting technical honors at their highschool and is on track to go right into the world of graphic design after graduation. However, to make spaces more accessible to them, low stimulating environments and a change in social expectations are what would be accomodating to them. Some people with autism need physical help with ramps and such due to issues with mobility, and other prefer captions on videos because the sound of the TV is too overwhelming. It's autism spectrum disorder for a reason, it's a large spectrum!

So, what is an accessible space? Can we make a space that's accessible for everyone?

The short answer is that you can't make a space that's accessible to everyone all of the time. The world is big and complicated, and people have big and complicated expereinces, wants, and needs. You can make spaces that are ADA compliant and accessible in that regard, but you cannot accomodate every person on the planet all the time. What you can do is be transparent.

When you're setting up your space, say in what ways you're friendly and want ways you're not. If it's a low vision/blind friendly environment, advertise that. If you have captioning available, advertise that. If you have strobe lights that could be overwhelming or seizure inducing, be clear on that!

I suffer from very severe and very airborne food allergies. I empathsize with my peanut and tree nut free friends, but I have an airborne mint allergy and an airborne seafood allergy. I'll eat the nuts on everyone's behalf. This causes major issues in my life, especially when going out to eat or to parties. If people aren't transparent about what is in the food, what touched the food, and what was next to the food, it's potentially not safe. If you're at a restaurant or hosting a party, it's so important to be transparent about what goes into the food as well as the atmosphere to make it accessible for everyone. You cannot accomodate for the entire planet, but you can inform! I went to a wedding last year where they didn't release the menu to us ahead of time, and it was a crab cake buffett with mint as part of the signature cocktail. I was hurt. I didn't want them to change their wedding; you deserve to have the wedding of your dreams! I was hurt that I wasn't told. Instead of driving five hours to be exposed to something that can send me into anaphylactic shock, I would have sent a card and a nice present. Or, met up with the couple on a different day to celebrate their new legal union.

You can't be accessible to everyone all of the time, so different events, opprotunties, and just being honest about what's going on really does go a long way. Honesty and transparency helps us make things within reach.