Complying with accessibility does not always mean including

In recent years, we have made great progress when we talk about accessibility and disability. We increasingly see more spaces that incorporate ramps, pictograms, reserved areas, sign language interpreters, stimulus reduction, or specific adaptations to facilitate people with disabilities accessing activities, events, and services.

And of course, all of this is important. Very important. For too long, it wasn't even considered that there were people who simply couldn't enter, understand what was happening, or enjoy certain spaces. That we talk about accessibility today and that administrations are beginning to incorporate it habitually is progress that we must acknowledge.

But I believe the time has also come to ask ourselves another question: is it enough?

Because sometimes I have the feeling that we have started to confuse accessibility with inclusion and, although they are related, they are not exactly the same. We can install a ramp and enable a person with reduced mobility to enter a space, but then we will have to ask ourselves if they can use the bathroom, move around the facilities, or participate in the activities taking place inside.

We can use pictograms to facilitate understanding of an activity, but there will be people who, in addition to that visual information, need support to communicate, anticipate what will happen, or navigate that environment. We can include a sign language interpreter at an event and we will be removing a very important barrier, but we will also have to consider if the rest of the activity is designed so that this person can participate on equal terms. And we can establish hours without loud music, intense lights, or other stimuli at a party, which I consider enormous progress, but there will be people for whom this measure is sufficient and others who need something more.

That is where I believe we still have a long way to go.

People with disabilities do not form a homogeneous group. Not even two people with the same disability necessarily have the same needs. One person may need personal assistance, another communication support, another accompaniment, another physical adaptation, and another may not need any support. That is why I do not think we can measure inclusion simply by counting how many accessibility measures we have incorporated. Perhaps we should start measuring it by asking ourselves how many people can actually participate after we have implemented them. And there is another issue that I think we talk about much less: who provides the support when it is needed?

Because too often we take for granted that a person with a disability can go "accompanied." And we usually know what that word means. A mother, a father, a sibling, a partner, or someone close who once again assumes the responsibility of making that participation possible. Families have been doing precisely that for years. Anticipating, accompanying, adapting, explaining, regulating situations, and seeking solutions so that their family members can be where they also have the right to be. But if we want to talk about autonomy, we will also have to talk about the possibility of participating without always depending on a mother, a father, or any family member being able to accompany them. It is not about filling all spaces with professionals or assuming that all people with disabilities need help. That would also be a mistake. It is about understanding that each person needs different things and that true inclusion should be able to consider those differences.

That is why I believe the debate can no longer be solely about whether or not we comply with certain accessibility measures. Complying with the norm is necessary. Eliminating barriers is essential. But then we have to look at what happens to people.

Can they enter? Yes. But can they decide what they want to do? Can they communicate? Can they participate in the activity? Can they enjoy it? Can they do it without necessarily depending on their family? Because perhaps therein lies the difference between being able to be in a place and truly being part of it. For a long time, we have fought for people with disabilities to be able to be there. Now we have to achieve that they can also participate.

Accessibility allows being there. Support allows participating.