Accessibility - Handicap International

•
Facilitating the identification of bus lines using different colors and visible signposting,
•
Supporting initiatives to develop door-to-door transport services.
Elections:
An ideal opportunity to work on accessibility
Election time is a particularly good time to work on accessibility to support a greater participation
of people with disabilities as citizens and to improve their access to voting rights.
In addition to the accessibility of polling stations (access ramps, the width of doorframes and
corridors, the provision of seating in the waiting area, polling booths which are wide enough
and well-lit etc.), it is important to consider access to information for all people with disabilities
whatever their disability. The following types of activities can be developed in order to take into
account all types of impairments and the accessibility of information and awareness-raising
actions:
- Awareness-raising amongst people with disabilities and/or their representatives prior to voting
on the importance of voting, voting rights and the electoral process,
- Work to register people on the electoral roll, or even to ensure people are in possession of their
birth certificates and/or identity cards,
- Training for people with disabilities so they can become official election observers with the aim
of changing society’s perception of people in disabling situations,
- Voting guides and ballot papers in Braille so that the blind and sight impaired can vote
autonomously in secrecy.
- Signposting at the entrances of polling stations to improve people’s understanding of the process.
This should describe the various stages in the voting process using illustrations (presentation of
constituency boundaries, provision of the ballot paper and envelope, choosing the ballot paper
to be inserted in the envelope in the booth, etc.),
- Provision of a special ballot box for people with reduced mobility (people with disabilities,
elderly people, pregnant women, etc.).
Accessibility projects should set aside part of their budget to fund “model” work to improve
accessibility. Ensuring their quality is therefore of the utmost importance. Handicap
International’s programs also receive regular requests to fund work to improve the
accessibility of buildings or public spaces. These funding should be granted only if these
constructions or adaptations are meant to be models and can serve as example.
If the accessibility of new buildings or facilities is taken into account as of the design stage,
the additional costs are extremely limited (1 – 2% for public buildings).
22