To be able to guarantee a complete accessibility is a key aspect for all citizens' quality of life. The present EU community framework gives priority to projects which consider accessibility, thus contemplating the human diversity of mobility. However, one must bear in mind that accessibility was always a concern of all governments; but their actions were never enough.

In order to describe in few words the current accessibility, I could say that it is built on two essential pillars: urban or architectonic accessibility and technologic accessibility. But it is necessary that the two work together in order to make sure that all citizens fully exercise their right to citizenship.

Next, the scope of accessibility and the inefficiency of the human being in small topics:

Public access – Currently, there are no urban actions considered innovative and coherent with the “Accessible Urban Spaces” philosophy. Pedestrian crossings without access ramps are a constant, traffic lights rarely have the correct time-delay, there are still obstacles on the sidewalks to eliminate, and people with sensorial problems still lack the necessary guiding equipments and differentiated texture.

Public buildings – The access to public buildings is a true disaster, from its surrounding area to its interior; movie theatres without places for people in wheelchairs; conference rooms without any kind of signalization; museums constantly inaccessible due to architectonic barriers and audio guides without a good description of the collections; adapted toilets are a rarity; courts still do not have elevators. To sum up, there is still plenty to do in order to put an end to the inaccessibility of public and private buildings.

Public transports – In Portugal, there was never a perfect accessibility in public transports. In order to a citizen in a wheelchair to travel by train, he or she is forced to use the “Pendular Train” because it is the only one with elevator, which raises the price of the ticket. In Portugal, there are still no sufficient low-floor city buses to allow a round-trip. The actually accessible accesses to train or bus stations' interior are still rare, with a larger asymmetry between the big urban centres and the country's interior zones.

Computer and Internet – In this contemporary society, everything functions based on this means of communication, from simple writing to navigation on the Internet. However, the biggest software company, “Microsoft”, has done little to develop accessibility processes. This is Mr. Bill Gates' debt to society. On the Internet, there are still inaccessible public websites. Despite the complexity of this kind of accessibility, when well executed, it allows the digital inclusion of everyone.

Tourism and leisure – Due to its geographic situation, Portugal is a perfect country to explore accessible tourism, but it has to be conducted with a “single concept”. Because isolated projects may be doomed to failure, governments must make use of this platform to foresee, regulate and support in order to have an equalitarian country.

Gerontology – The population over 60 years old in Europe is predicted to increase in 50% over the next 30 years, becoming a dominant group, more instructed and active. Technologic development is urgent, based on universal or inclusive design. I want to believe that in the future, television, Internet and intelligent houses will be completely accessible and a reality for everyone.

I end up with the next message: the “European Concept of Accessibility” was created but it is nothing more than a utopia because each country has its laws and the European Union is still very far from achieving consensus.

The construction of more and better accessibilities is, however, imperative in order to give autonomy to all citizens. For that, we long for the contribution of the future Portuguese Rehabilitation Engineers.

João Henriques