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Nowadays, writing about accessibilities makes us cross a wide range of issues, from public transportation to means of communication, workplace, public space, leisure, etc… However, we're oddly confronted with the fact that not all of these spaces and public access facilities are equipped with the necessary accessibility conditions thus preventing or hindering the exercise of citizenship rights by all citizens.
Hence the following question:
Why is there still discrimination and social exclusion well into the 21 st century?
Political agents are the only ones fully accountable for these faults as well as for finding the best options and solutions to lead society into an inclusive model for all citizens, be it laws and their application or the creation of financial and technical conditions for the accessibility projects and campaigns capable of building a functional world.
Currently, TV channels need more accessible time, from films to documentaries, news services with sign language, teletext and audio-description. More prime time programs about accessibility are also a priority.
In what computer-related technologies are concerned, it's urgent to produce more accessibility software to allow a perfect use of these means and an easy Internet navigation. Accessibility to public administration websites must suffer a drastic qualitative and quantitative increase. For corporate and personal websites there's the valuable help of web validators, which make building accessible pages easy. Therefore the respect for some design rules is expectable for that is the only way to make sure everybody will be able to access the information available on the cyber world.
If we read the decree 123/97 (basic technical norms for the elimination of architectonic barriers in public buildings, collective equipments and streets) we can easily see that not all of it was implemented. Who's to blame? On the other hand, everybody knows who the victims are.
That decree foresaw a 7-year period for the abolishment of architectonic barriers after which there would be a “zero tolerance” policy. Thus, the folowwing questions:
Where's the testing of the law? Weren't the works signed by architects or engineers? Aren't the companies in charge of building well known? Isn't anybody to blame?
Amidst all the irregularities allowed by the State millions of citizens are hindered for several decades to come. But laws are no mere suggestions and must be observed. If they aren't, we're facing a serious violation of the Constitution in what citizens with disabilities are concerned.
Finally, we've been watching the appearance of Person with Disability Officers. May this be a way of channelling the problems and leap over red tape? I have the idea this is more of a fashion that will only serve the purpose of pretending something is being done, and this way we'll never have a society built in an egalitarian way, thus making Portugal a country of no relevance in the international context of developed countries.
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