Accessibility vs. Aesthetic
Here’s a stone-cold, irrefutable fact: accessibility trumps aesthetics. Every time. I don’t care how pretty or historic your place is. If disabled people struggle in it, it’s not good.
(Disclaimer: I’m not talking about buildings that were erected pre-1600. However, as a history student I fully endorse making historic sites as accessible as possible. It’s really not that tricky, to be fair. Handrails, ramps, sign language availability and audio descriptions are provisions I’ve seen in several historic hotspots. It can be done. But of course, you have to care about it first. And many do not.)
I was talking with a friend about the accessibility in universities, and this got us thinking about our own institutions. My student union is in a mock-16th century castle, and you can immediately see how inaccessible it is. A huge staircase to get in at one entrance. To get into a certain bar? SPIRAL STAIRCASE. ROPE RAIL. I’ve slipped down stairs so many times in so many places bc a) there’s no handrail or b) the ‘rail’ isn’t fixed and rigid.
PSA: ROPE ISN’T GOOD HANDRAIL MATERIAL.
“But it looks so pretty!” you say. “Aesthetic!”
*rolls eyes to heavens*
No. Are you saying aesthetic matters more than disabled people? Because if you are, you are a shitty person and you need to rethink your priorities.
Look, I get why people say that. Pretty things are great. Everyone likes pretty things; they make us feel good. But — you need to make sure it’s pretty and accessible. And accessibility has to come first. It has to. People’s basic needs are the most important thing. If you have to choose between prettiness and health? Choose health. Health matters more than anything you could do regarding aesthetic. Even if your workplace is a historic location — you have to accommodate. It’s not difficult. What’s difficult is the lack of care and motivation that non-disabled people have when it comes to making life easier and more open for disabled folk.
Non-disabled people — I urge you to start looking at public spaces, to look at entryways, interiors, exteriors. What facilities do they have to help disabled people? Are there flaws? Issues? If you find issues — speak up. Disabled people aren’t the only ones who should fight for accessibility. We need you to fight with us.
And an always-relevant reminder: accessibility isn’t just things like ramps and lifts. It’s things like fonts and Braille, interpreters, seating, note-taking, audio description, captioning. It’s provisions that enable disabled people to access things that non-disabled people can use every day without worrying about being able to do so. I shouldn’t have to state the obvious. But non-disabled people are ignorant of this.
Examples of my accessibility accommodations at university over the years:
- laptops & extra time for exams
- an allowance to take longer walking between places without getting called out or scolded for being a little late
- an accessible, private bathroom
- lecture notes if I need them
- lecture recording equipment
Bear in mind that every disabled person’s accommodations are different. They’re tailored and specific. But so many places can’t even manage the most basic.
Why is that? Because companies value aesthetic more. They think disabled = only wheelchairs. And they don’t think there are many wheelchair users. Because there’s ‘only a few’, they see fit to ignore anything they could do bc they don’t believe that the place will draw disabled people. That there’s no point to putting in ramps etc. (You’re not not getting disabled customers because “they don’t exist”. You’re not getting them because THEY CAN’T GET IN.) After all, there’s only a handful of disabled people, right?
Spoiler alert: they’re wrong.
13.3 million is not ‘a few’. We are many. We need accessibility. And we need non-disabled people to fight for it with us. We need people to care.
Annie Elainey, a wonderful disability activist, said, ‘ The future is accessible.’
We just have to make it so.
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Lily is a non-binary disabled writer, activist, and medievalist. She has a masters’ degree in medieval literature from the University of Edinburgh, and lives in England. You can find her on Twitter or on her Patreon, where she posts medieval non-fiction, poetry, and queer fantasy fiction.
