Sometimes I complain publicly about something inaccessible, and I’m told I’m overreacting, either directly or indirectly. This takes the form of statements that start with words like:
“Why didn’t you just (blah blah blah)”: where “blah blah blah” is something you already tried but didn’t mention in the original story, or was impossible to try due to financial or geographic reasons.
“Why are you making such a big deal about this?”: Diminishing your lived experience and the discrimination you experienced because the responder (almost always someone without a disability) doesn’t think it is a big deal.
“Why do you call out companies publicly over teeny-tiny accessibility problems?”What seems like a teeny-tiny problem to you might be the difference between someone paying a utility bill or getting their power cut off. It could mean seeing a strobe light and realizing the building is on fire instead of waiting to smell smoke or have someone come find you. It might be a piece of software you can’t use, so you can’t get a job.
Without accessibility, you don’t hear us, you don’t see us, you might not even know we exist. Denying people with disabilities accessibility puts us back in the charitable model of disability that dates back over 100 years. Lack of accessibility creates barriers that leave people with disabilities no other option but to ask others for help and be dependent on them for their charity in providing assistance.
Accessibility is the core to equal access, and equal access is core to civil rights for people with disabilities.Alt: Accessibility is like oxygen. without it, disabled people cannot thrive.