What is accessibility?

The word accessibility combines the words access and ability. Accessibility means being able to access places, information, and services without barriers. The goal of accessibility is for everyone to have the opportunity to participate fully in everyday life.

The Accessible Saskatchewan Act seeks to achieve accessibility by preventing and removing barriers that keep people with disabilities from being able to access, understand, and use the places, information, and services in our province.

People with disabilities face a wide range of barriers, so accessibility can be achieved in different ways. Accessibility can mean:

• moving through a building, visiting a park, or travelling along a sidewalk because structures and spaces have been designed in a way that allows everyone to use them.

• getting the news or information that is important to you in a way you can understand because it is available in formats such as sign language, braille, closed captioning, plain language, and large print.

• accessing website content with an assistive device (such as a screen reader, alternative keyboard, or joystick) because the content has been designed or coded to work with these devices. 

Accessibility can also mean:

• working at a job you enjoy with accommodations that make it easy for you to be effective at work.

• Booking a family holiday knowing that all the members of your family will be able to access accommodations and services and participate in the activities at your destination.

Accessibility has become closely associated with the concept of Universal Design. Universal Design is design that allows access or use of an environment by as many people as possible, regardless of age, size, or ability. The designed environment can be physical (for example, a building, structure, or product) or non-physical (for example, technology or educational materials).

Accessibility and Universal Design benefit everyone. A business that is accessible to everyone can expand its customer base. A workplace with accessibility measures has access to a broader, more diverse workforce. A public park built with Universal Design principles is a space that everyone in the community can enjoy.

Accessibility Barriers

Previously, many people understood a person’s disability to be the barrier that kept that person from participating fully in everyday life. Recently, a new understanding of disability has emerged. This new understanding recognizes that accessibility barriers are created when systems, spaces, objects, and information are designed in a way that does not allow all people to use them.

There are many types of accessibility barriers:

• Physical barriers exist when physical obstacles make it difficult for people with disabilities to access a space.

• Information and communication barriers exist when information is not provided in a way that everyone can access or use.

• Technology barriers exist when technology is not accessible for people with disabilities.

• System barriers exist when policies, practices, or procedures don’t consider the inclusion of people with disabilities.

• Attitude barriers exist when others think or act towards people with disabilities based on false ideas or beliefs.