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EASIT: Easy Access
for Social Inclusion Training

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This is unit 1, Media accessibility;

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element 2, What is accessibility?;

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video lecture, Accessibility.

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I am Anna Matamala, from
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

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and in this lecture I will try
to define the notion of accessibility.

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If I ask a theatre director,
a head of school or a mayor

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"Is your theatre,
school or city council accessible?",

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most of them will reply
"Yes, of course!

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We have accessible toilets
and a ramp for wheelchairs."

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Accessibility is often seen
as a way to providing access

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for persons with reduced mobility.

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But accessibility is more
than a ramp for a wheelchair user,

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despite the importance
of well-designed ramps.

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The United Nations Convention

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on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities

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(UNCRPD for short),

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includes
a full article on "Accessibility".

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I'll read the first paragraph verbatim.

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"1. To enable persons with disabilities

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to live independently
and participate fully

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in all aspects of life,

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States Parties
shall take appropriate measures

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to ensure to persons
with disabilities access,

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on an equal basis with others,

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to the physical environment,
to transportation,

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to information and communications,

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including information
and communications

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technologies and systems,

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and to other facilities and services
open or provided to the public,

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both in urban and in rural areas."

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Accessibility is not only
about the physical space

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but also about communication
and information.

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In fact, we could identify
different types of accessibility.

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For example:

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Physical accessibility,

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cognitive accessibility,

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sensorial accessibility,

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when one does not have access
to the visual or acoustic elements.

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But we may also want to talk about:

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linguistic accessibility, when one
does not understand the language,

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social accessibility,

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when one does not have access
because of socio-economic factors.

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Another way to look at accessibility

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is from the perspective
of the content that is made accessible.

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We could talk
about audiovisual accessibility,

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written text accessibility,
and many more.

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And if we consider the environment
where a specific content is found,

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we could talk about web accessibility,
performing arts accessibility,

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museum accessibility, etc.

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The EN 17161:2019 standard
"Design for All"

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defines "accessibility"
in the following terms:

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"Extent to which products,

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systems, services,
environments and facilities

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can be used
by people from a population

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with the widest range of user needs,
characteristics and capabilities

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to achieve identified goals
in identified contexts of use."

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A note to this entry indicates that

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"context of use includes direct use

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or use supported
by assistive technologies".

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When reading other ISO definitions
of "accessibility"

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available in the ISO Browsing Platform,

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you will see that accessibility
is defined slightly differently.

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For example:

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Usability of a product,
service, environment or facility

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by people
with the widest range of capabilities.

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Ease of reaching and using
a service or facility.

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Although accessibility was considered
to concern exclusively

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or mainly specific groups
of persons with disabilities

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(what Gian Maria Greco
terms a "particularist account"),

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there is now a move towards
a "universalist account of access",

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meaning that accessibility

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is considered
to concern all human beings.

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Indeed,
many accessibility requirements

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improve usability for everyone.

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A typical example:
subtitles can benefit hearing people

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watching audiovisual content
in a quiet place with the volume off.

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But let's take a step further:

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how does accessibility
relate to usability?

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Usability is defined
in an ISO 9241-11 standard

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as "Extent to which a product
can be used by specified users

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to achieve specified goals
with effectiveness,

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efficiency and satisfaction
in a specified context of use".

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If "specified users"
includes persons with disabilities

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and "specified context of use"
includes accessibility considerations,

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then usability
could be considered an umbrella term.

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The problem, according to some,

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is that very often

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the needs of persons
with disabilities get diluted,

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as some usability practitioners
do not consider their needs.

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Things are not black and white,
and I would advise you

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to read more about the topic

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so that you can better
position yourselves.

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One question to think about:

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should we move beyond disability
and focus on capabilities?

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In a 2019 article I published in Hikma

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with Belén Agulló and Pilar Orero,

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we argued that selecting users
based on their sensorial disabilities

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may not be the best strategy
in research as other capabilities

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(for instance, technological capabilities)

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may have
a greater impact on the results.

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And a second question:

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should we move beyond accessibility

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and put the focus on personalization
and customization?

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Personalization would
allow the System to identify you

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and offer you an experience
based on your previous behaviour.

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Customization would allow you
to make changes to your experience

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to meet your needs.

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I leave these questions open

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so that you can
come up with your own ideas.

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This video lecture has been prepared
by Anna Matamala,

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from
Universitat Aut˛noma de Barcelona.

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You can reach me
at anna.matamala@uab.cat.

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Pictures.

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Source: pixabay.com,
publicdomainvectors.org,

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stockfreeimages.com.

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License: Pixabay License, CC0.

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The project EASIT
has received funding

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from the European Commission

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under the Erasmus+
Strategic Partnerships

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for Higher Education programme,

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grant agreement
2018-1-ES01-KA203-05275.

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The European Commission support
for the production of this publication

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does not constitute
an endorsement of the contents,

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which reflect
the views only of the authors,

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and the Commission
cannot be held responsible

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for any use which may be made
of the information contained therein.

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This work is licensed
under a Creative Commons

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Attribution-ShareAlike
4.0 International License.

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Partners of the EASIT project:

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Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,

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Università degli Studi di Trieste,

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Universidade de Vigo,

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Stiftung Universität Hildesheim,

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SDI München,

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Dyslexiförbundet,

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Radiotelevisija Slovenija,

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Zavod Risa.

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EASIT: Easy Access
for Social Inclusion Training