Human Rights and Disability A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions The rationales for accessibility are made clear in General Comment No. 2 of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Accessibility is a precondition for persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully and equally in society. Without access to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communication, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, persons with disabilities would not have equal opportunities for participation in their respective societies.71 Reversing this legacy of exclusion is difficult. As the 2011 World Report on Disability noted: Built environments, transport systems and information are often inaccessible (to persons with disabilities). Lack of access to transport is frequently a reason for a person with disabilities being discouraged from seeking work or prevented from accessing healthcare. Even in countries with laws on accessibility, compliance in public buildings is often very low. The communication needs of persons with disabilities are often unmet. Information is frequently unavailable in accessible formats and some people with disabilities are unable to access basic information and communications technology such as telephones and television.72 The concept of universal design is central to the creation of infrastructure that is accessible to persons with disabilities. Article 2 of the UN CRPD provides the following definition: “Universal design” means the design of products, environments, programmes and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. The concept of accessibility relates to persons with disabilities as a whole, while the concept of ‘reasonable accommodation’, while complimentary, considers the individualised needs of particular persons. The obligation of ‘reasonable accommodation’ on its own will not solve the major inaccessibility issues; something more programmatic is also needed. 73 The Danish Institute for Human Rights has promoted accessibility in a number of ways. Its publication – Come on In: On Accessibility to Buildings – is aimed at all those who work with accessibility to buildings, including people who formulate building policies and people who train those who will work in the building professions, as well as developers, voluntary organisations and disability organisations fighting for the right to inclusion in society.73 In the area of transportation, the Danish Institute for Human Rights has contacted all bus companies in Denmark and requested specific information on access to buses for people in wheelchairs and users of electric scooters, in order to clarify whether the current level of access meets the obligations in the UN CRPD and in European Union law. This has led to a change in practice and an initiative to further develop access to buses in Denmark. 28 71 See the Introduction to General Comment No. 2; available at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/GC.aspx. 72 Page 263; available at www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/. 73 Danish Institute for Human Rights, Come On In, 2013; available at www.humanrights.dk/files/media/dokumenter/handicap konventionen/comeonin.pdf.