Submission of the New Zealand Human Rights Commission to the 18 th session of the Human Rights Council; New Zealand’s Second Universal Periodic Review. Accessibility 11. Accessibility is central to achieving other rights such as employment, education and freedom of expression. The two areas the IMM believes needs urgent attention are access to buildings and the built environment and access to official information. 12. New Zealand law requires that buildings be built or altered to meet the needs of disabled people and that disabled people have the same access to services and facilities as non-disabled people. Nonetheless buildings continue to be built, facilities developed and public spaces designed that do not comply with universal design principles.32 It is apparent from the IMM’s monitoring that the problem is caused by a number of factors including inadequate standards implementing the legal requirements, a lack of awareness and commitment to universal design and inconsistent professional competence in designing accessible facilities. 13. The rebuilding of Christchurch after the devastating earthquakes of 2010-11 provides the ideal opportunity to develop the most accessible city in the world. Some progress and commitments have been made, especially with the development of public sector facilities and housing. Commitment and awareness by the private sector is not consistent, with some examples of poor design. 14. The New Zealand Government has undertaken to make all websites associated with core government departments accessible, has produced a timetable for making this happen and is developing tools and professional development programmes to assist with this. The IMM welcomes this initiative and would encourage it to be applied to the wider state sector including Crown agencies, territorial authorities and district health boards. 15. The IMM also believes further consideration needs to be given to making information more accessible in other modes and formats. For example New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) has been an official language of New Zealand since 2006. Very few government agencies have clear policies about when information should be available in NZSL or when professional NZSL interpreter services should be available. 16. Recommendations: a That the access codes and regulations applying to building and the built environment be reviewed and made mandatory by 2014. b That all government agencies ensure that their own websites and the websites of government funded initiatives for which they are responsible comply with the Government Web Standards. 32 Human Rights Commission, Better Design and Buildings for Everyone: Disabled Peoples Rights and the Built Environment. Auckland 2012. 20