Defining Accessibility
Note: This article was written for thought leaders and content creators who work in social justice settings. These ideas are intended to spark conversation within your organization about how you, as a collective, can improve your offerings to better suit a disabled audience. Think redesigning a company pamphlet, not using the words out at a bar with your friends.
"Accessibility" and "accessible" are words with multiple meanings. In its broadest sense, "accessibility" means "a way a thing is accessed." However, "accessibility" also refers to principles, processes, items, and actions that help disabled people participate fully in all aspects of society. These uses are not interchangeable.
Casually claiming things are accessible actively prevents you from confronting inequality and ableism. It is crucial to prioritize the disability-specific use of "accessible", especially when doing work in social justice.
Casually claiming things are accessible actively prevents you from confronting inequality and ableism. It is crucial to prioritize the disability-specific use of "accessible", especially when doing work in social justice.
Accessibility: the ways we design and adapt our world to ensure equal access for disabled people.
Creating an accessible environment starts with correct usage of the words. We know accessibility is important; we also understand the definition in its broadest sense. It can feel good to use "accessible" as a nod to inclusivity.
However, it is misleading and ultimately damaging to the disabled community if you slip "accessibility" into your vocabulary without changing your actions or environment. Overusing "accessible" doesn't make anything better. But it does make you more likely to gloss over opportunities to create actual accessibility. It's the equivalent of checking off an item on your to-do list without taking any action except making a check mark.
As a disabled person, I am constantly looking for signs that people, places, and things will accommodate my disability. A music venue website has image descriptions and a page about accessibility? Cool! I feel safer in my decision to go there. There's no mention of accessibility and I have to go into the user-generated reviews to find out that the venue is upstairs? I'm staying home.
Since I need accessible accommodations, the words "accessible" and "accommodations" act as beacons for me. These words let me know if I am welcome. These words are my words; these words are meant for me.
When I see someone using "accessible" in its most general sense, it throws me off. You've taken my sign, my flag, and put it on a wall with all the other flags because it makes a nice decoration. I don't know if I am explicitly unwelcome, but you are not making me explicitly welcome--even if you think you are. Using my word does not mean you are doing the work.
Abled people have no attachment to "accessible" or any stake in its usage. But disabled people do. That's why it's important to prioritize the disability-specific meaning of the word over the general usage.
However, it is misleading and ultimately damaging to the disabled community if you slip "accessibility" into your vocabulary without changing your actions or environment. Overusing "accessible" doesn't make anything better. But it does make you more likely to gloss over opportunities to create actual accessibility. It's the equivalent of checking off an item on your to-do list without taking any action except making a check mark.
As a disabled person, I am constantly looking for signs that people, places, and things will accommodate my disability. A music venue website has image descriptions and a page about accessibility? Cool! I feel safer in my decision to go there. There's no mention of accessibility and I have to go into the user-generated reviews to find out that the venue is upstairs? I'm staying home.
Since I need accessible accommodations, the words "accessible" and "accommodations" act as beacons for me. These words let me know if I am welcome. These words are my words; these words are meant for me.
When I see someone using "accessible" in its most general sense, it throws me off. You've taken my sign, my flag, and put it on a wall with all the other flags because it makes a nice decoration. I don't know if I am explicitly unwelcome, but you are not making me explicitly welcome--even if you think you are. Using my word does not mean you are doing the work.
Abled people have no attachment to "accessible" or any stake in its usage. But disabled people do. That's why it's important to prioritize the disability-specific meaning of the word over the general usage.
Example Sentences
"[T]he venue for the evening activity tomorrow is on the second floor of the restaurant and is accessible only by a set of steep, narrow, stairs."
The venue is not actually accessible. The venue is inaccessible. This is an example of doublespeak which benefits the speaker at the expense of disabled people. It feels good to say "accessible." It feels bad to confront able-bodied privilege and explicitly acknowledge that you have made a decision that prevents some disabled people from attending. It feels even worse to be the disabled person on the receiving end of this email, knowing that a dozen different people signed off on this choice to shut you out. The use of "accessible" adds insult to the injury of exclusion. This is one of the most egregious examples of ableist behavior I've found in relation to the misuse of "accessible."
"The main conference room is accessible from the main hall."
In this example, "accessible" simply isn't the best choice of words. The use of "accessible" makes me think that the conference room has been designed or altered in some way to accommodate disabled people. In reality, the entrance to the main conference room is simply located on the far end of the main hall.
"Help us create content that is accessible to women of color."
Accessing a thing is only step one. Having useful content is something else. The writer likely meant content that is helpful, relevant, or relatable to women of color. PS: POC can be disabled, too. By using disability-related phrasing for a different marginalized community, you erase people who have both identities. Being a disabled person of color is a vastly different experience from being a disabled white person (Check out the hashtag #DisabilityTooWhite for more perspectives on this specific intersection). Attempting to superficially separate these identities only serves to reinforce existing power structures.
"Digital content is easily accessible."
Digital content is freely available. A staggering amount of digital content isn't actually accessible. Does your video content have captions, transcripts, or audio descriptions? Do your photos have image descriptions? Is your site designed to work with screen readers? Do you write for lower-literacy readers? If you assume digital content is inherently accessible, you miss out on dozens of ways to make your digital content genuinely accessible.
"The program is free so it is accessible to low-income people."
Here, claiming the program is accessible keeps the speaker from analyzing the ways the program is not attainable for low-income people. "The program is free" is a complete sentence. But is transportation provided? Is there childcare? Are there different sessions for people who work different shifts? "Free" is not a synonym for "accessible" nor "achievable." "Free" just means the program itself has no price for the user. There are still other costs, other accessibility issues, other things that prevent people from attending the program. If you do not anticipate these other limitations, you will be very surprised when only one person shows up for your "freely accessible" program.
The venue is not actually accessible. The venue is inaccessible. This is an example of doublespeak which benefits the speaker at the expense of disabled people. It feels good to say "accessible." It feels bad to confront able-bodied privilege and explicitly acknowledge that you have made a decision that prevents some disabled people from attending. It feels even worse to be the disabled person on the receiving end of this email, knowing that a dozen different people signed off on this choice to shut you out. The use of "accessible" adds insult to the injury of exclusion. This is one of the most egregious examples of ableist behavior I've found in relation to the misuse of "accessible."
"The main conference room is accessible from the main hall."
In this example, "accessible" simply isn't the best choice of words. The use of "accessible" makes me think that the conference room has been designed or altered in some way to accommodate disabled people. In reality, the entrance to the main conference room is simply located on the far end of the main hall.
"Help us create content that is accessible to women of color."
Accessing a thing is only step one. Having useful content is something else. The writer likely meant content that is helpful, relevant, or relatable to women of color. PS: POC can be disabled, too. By using disability-related phrasing for a different marginalized community, you erase people who have both identities. Being a disabled person of color is a vastly different experience from being a disabled white person (Check out the hashtag #DisabilityTooWhite for more perspectives on this specific intersection). Attempting to superficially separate these identities only serves to reinforce existing power structures.
"Digital content is easily accessible."
Digital content is freely available. A staggering amount of digital content isn't actually accessible. Does your video content have captions, transcripts, or audio descriptions? Do your photos have image descriptions? Is your site designed to work with screen readers? Do you write for lower-literacy readers? If you assume digital content is inherently accessible, you miss out on dozens of ways to make your digital content genuinely accessible.
"The program is free so it is accessible to low-income people."
Here, claiming the program is accessible keeps the speaker from analyzing the ways the program is not attainable for low-income people. "The program is free" is a complete sentence. But is transportation provided? Is there childcare? Are there different sessions for people who work different shifts? "Free" is not a synonym for "accessible" nor "achievable." "Free" just means the program itself has no price for the user. There are still other costs, other accessibility issues, other things that prevent people from attending the program. If you do not anticipate these other limitations, you will be very surprised when only one person shows up for your "freely accessible" program.
Words to Use Instead
Say what you mean! Here are some words to replace more general uses of "accessible." Keep in mind that these words are not necessarily synonyms for each other.
- Free/cheap
- Convenient
- Relevant
- Tailored for
- Useful
- Located
- Available
- Attainable
- Suitable
- Appropriate for
- Inaccessible
Sometimes you won't be able to simply swap out the words. Instead, you'll have to rewrite the whole sentence. That's okay, too. The goal is improved communication and more explicit explanations, not just avoiding a word. For example, a paragraph about the various entrances to a public space is more useful than a single-sentence 'The venue is accessible.'