Access all areas

Is there a place for people with disabilities in a sustainable world? Silly question, surely. Yet as Mark Kinver discovered, there’s been surprisingly little thinking about how to ensure that a greener future is accessible to all. But that’s starting to change… You’d think, on first impression, that disability and sustainability would have some sort of philosophical kinship. Both share a history of existing on the fringe of society, campaigning hard to be taken seriously by the mainstream.

Many sustainable solutions do hit the mark for disabled people. Think efficient and integrated public transport systems, or local authorities’ green-box collection schemes. With nearly nine million people in the UK classified as disabled, green strategies that have their needs at heart will be well on the way to winning the support of a sizeable – and increasingly vocal – slice of society.

Yet ask most environmental groups just where the disabled fit in on their radar, and the reply is at best a bland reassurance – at worst an embarrassed shrug. Take a response from Greenpeace as an example. "We don’t actively encourage disabled people to join in on actions, but we don’t discourage them either." Not that the magazine you’re holding is exactly a beacon for best practice. There are currently no large-print or audio versions available, and unless you include in your definition of ‘access’ being hauled up a flight of steps on the shoulders of a pair of not-so-burly editorial staff, we fail lamentably there too! (And yes, we are working on it...)

No excuses

But wait a minute, aren’t greens supposed to be out there saving the world? There are just not enough hours in the day to fight everyone else’s cause as well, surely?

Well, if you are thinking of using that excuse to David Grayson, the former chairman of the National Disability Council, then think again. "While it is not a case of doing things overnight, there is no argument for saying that this is too hard or there are more pressing things. Ultimately, it comes down to whether you believe that disability issues are important. There are things [any organisation] can do in terms of employment practices, information and literature, and events." And a report by KPMG, commissioned by Grayson, went further by identifying the failure of environmental groups, among others, to push for disability rights as one of the reasons why business was slow to respond. “Intermediary organisations who promote social and ethical responsibility”, said KPMG, “have not placed disability on the agenda.” Which, considering the eagerness with which most of the green movement is embracing the call for social auditing, ethical reporting and the whole ‘social bottom line’ of sustainability, is to say the least an embarrassment. Grayson, who also chairs Business in the Community, feels that disability has lost out while business flirts with more ‘sexy’ issues. “One of the interesting things I find when I talk to people guiding companies’ corporate responsibility strategy is that very few of them have had direct experience of disability. They seem to come from either an environmental or human rights background. This goes some way to explain why things have been overlooked.”

Flat-pack wheeling

Yet there are the exceptions to the rule. Some companies that are leading lights when it comes to the environment also score highly on disability. B&Q, Shell, and BT are all making commitments in their corporate citizenship reports to improve facilities for people with disabilities.

B&Q are currently working on a project that aims to offer employment, mobility and improved social status to disabled people in developing countries. By teaming up with a social entrepreneur, they are hoping to set up factories that produce flat-pack wheelchairs. And within the UK, the store is listening to what their customers are telling them. Kay Allen, B&Q’s equalities manager, says: “Disabled customers helped us explore access and customer services issues that made shopping and working in B&Q difficult.” As a result of the consultation, the store is changing some of its shop-floor layouts.

And they are not doing it because they are a social goody-two-shoes. There are some very strong economic reasons for the shift to accessibility. The UK is an ageing society. As the Employers’ Forum on Disability’s chief executive, Susan Scott-Parker, explains, “as people get older, so the proportion of people with disabilities increases”.

Internet without prejudice

So the power of the ‘grey pound’ is going to mean that business will have to adapt or risk going under. “By making your service more accessible to people over 45”, says Scott-Parker, “you are making your service more accessible to disabled people.”

And we are not talking about a few extra coppers in the till. Recent estimates suggest that disabled people, as consumers, are estimated to be worth £50 billion a year to the economy.

The development of the e-society, of which the UK prides itself as being an active citizen, has a positive knock-on for the disabled shopper. Internet-based technology is set to empower people with disabilities to have a more powerful and equal voice.

James Ford, campaigns officer for Scope, sees the chance for disabled people to be given a new prejudice-free identity. “The great advantage the internet has for people with disabilities is that nobody knows that they are disabled. Naturally, some do not want to disclose that they are. And there’s nothing on the net to say that the person sending me an email or accessing an e-commerce site for groceries is disabled, so it is a non-discriminatory, non-disabled environment.”

“People with speech impairments, or limited mobility, can get the same information and treatment as anyone else, provided they have the right equipment for them, and that the websites are designed in a user-friendly way, with assets like changeable fonts and colours.”

Chinese water torture

So the future is looking hopeful. Legislation is in place for public bodies, and the demographic and economic trends offer incentives for astute businesses. Yet the trickiest barrier still needs to be negotiated – people’s attitudes. Tom Shakespeare, a sociologist and director of the PEALS Research Institute, at the International Centre for Life in Newcastle-upon- Tyne, describes disability as “much the trouble with society as it is the trouble with the body.”

His definition was clearly illustrated in a study for professionals working with people with disabilities. It listed three perceptions that non-disabled people associated with disability: ‘dependent upon charity’, ‘low quality of life’ and ‘high medical needs’. Hardly the sort of language associated with a sustainable society, but David Grayson feels that a tried and tested tool – loved by both environmentalists and disability campaigners – still holds strong. “The only way to make progress is to constantly make the point and highlight positive solutions. It is almost like Chinese water torture, you have to wear down people’s attitudes and assumptions. In the end, they have to listen to you.”

Brighton and Hove Council, 01273 290000
Employers Forum on Disability,  020 7403 3020
Scope, 020 7619 7100

Copies of Sense and Accessibility from the Countryside Agency can be ordered free by calling publications on 0870 120 6466. Large print versions are available from the Agency’s SE regional office on 020 7340 2900.

ALL ABOARD

Before disabled activists wipe the greenies clean off their Christmas card list, it ’s worth remembering one of their own lessons – sweeping generalisations run the risk of overlooking opportunities to move things forward.

Take the thorny old issue of access to transport and the countryside. A recently published report by the Countryside Agency, Sense and Accessibility, looked at access for people with mobility impairments on the South East’s four national trails. The report lists the lack of information and transportation amongst the barriers that prevent disabled people enjoying the rural environment. Kirsty White, the disability awareness and training officer at Cambridge University, echoes the report ’s findings: “I am sure that a lot of people just write the idea off.They think that the countryside is not for them. As a wheelchair user, I was trying to plan a holiday for this year and searched for a central organisation that had information on accessible paths. I had problems finding anything.”

The Agency did something remarkably simple, yet often overlooked.They spoke to the people they were talking about. David West, senior countryside officer, was involved in the consultation process. “One message that came to us from all disabled users of the trails was that they categorically did not want to see tarmacing of paths in the countryside. They effectively wanted to see exactly the same things as an able-bodied rambler. All they wanted from us was to make it possible for them to make the decision as to whether they chose to go out there or not.”

And that ’s exactly what they are doing. The information disabled people need is being made available on the internet. “By entering a few parameters,” says West,“ such as ‘nothing steeper than x and no stiles’, a list of the sections of the path will appear that you could go off and tackle.”

Yet the problem of getting there still remains. Access to public transport is a big issue.

“I pay a fortune for my adapted vehicle and a fortune for my insurance, since I have to cover any driver because I don ’t drive,” says White, who is also a consultant on disability and equality issues. “There is a myth that every single disabled person wants to keep their vehicles. I would love to use public transport and only occasionally use my van, but public transport is a nightmare and it just isn’t viable. I have never received the help that I need.That sort of experience prohibits me from travelling alone in my electric wheelchair.”

So what ’s needed to instil trust and confidence in public transport? Apart from the usual nutshells of punctuality and reliability, the issue of access reappears: access to information, and physical access to the buses and trains.

Brighton and Hove Council have tackled the first problem in a creative partnership with a local firm.They have produced textured bus-route maps to help people with visual impairments to get about more freely. A simple idea, yet they are the first council in the UK to do it.The introduction of ‘super- low floor ’buses on many routes around the UK is set to give more independence and freedom of choice to people with disabilities.

But it ’s not all win-win. James Ford, of Scope, warns that it is not enough to make the assumption that green initiatives are automatically good for disabled people. He uses pedestrianisation as an example.“If you look at what Westminster Council have done in Soho, it is absolutely awful for disabled people. Restricted cab access means that people cannot get near the place they want to go.”

But David Grayson, speaking as a board member of the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority (SSRA), believes that things can only (excuse the cliché) get better. “The combination of the government ’s 10-year transport plan, the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), and the soon to be published SSRA report, should see improvements to all public transport that benefit disabled users.”

29 May 2001

Mark Kinver