After profitable my first gold medal within the 1972 Paralympics, I went out with the swim staff for a celebratory dinner. I’ll always remember the paradoxical sight of my teammates — all world-class athletes — being carried of their wheelchairs up the few steps into an inaccessible restaurant. While removed from a uncommon prevalence on the time, the stark distinction between that second and our victory within the pool earlier that day made it stand out.
As I strapped on my braces and slowly made my method up the steps, I mirrored on the irony of the state of affairs. As Paralympic champions, we have been sources of inspiration to tens of millions. We have been breaking down stereotypes and altering perceptions about what disabled individuals may accomplish. Yet whereas we have been celebrated by society, we weren’t accommodated by it.
Accessing many primary items and providers required herculean feats of power and agility. Attempts at taking part totally within the bodily world have been met with hurdles and obstacles. At that point, it was clear that for the Paralympic motion, which strived to advertise incapacity rights by way of Paralympic sport, the work was not but carried out. In truth, it was simply starting.
Over the following 4 Paralympic video games that I participated in, we started to see the gradual shift towards extra accessible cities. The Paralympic motion performed no small half in that development. By placing a variety of disabled individuals on TV all over the world, it introduced the necessity for equal entry from the shadows into the highlight.
Joseph Wengier and his teammates on the 1980 Paralympics. Wengier is second from left. Image Credits: Joseph Wengier.
The Paralympics additionally demanded host cities do higher, requiring significant and lasting enhancements to the accessibility of cities’ infrastructure. Today, whereas there may be actually nonetheless a lot room for enchancment, disabled individuals have discovered options for many issues and are in a position to take part in society greater than ever earlier than.
Yet with the web taking an more and more central half in our each day lives, we’re seeing the identical exclusionary practices that we skilled — and fought in opposition to — all these years in the past reappearing in a brand new kind. A latest research reviewed the world’s high 1 million web sites and located accessibility points on the homepages of greater than 97% of them.
A restaurant web site that lacks assist for keyboard navigation or doesn’t work correctly with display screen readers can stop an individual who depends on these applied sciences from ordering meals, much like the best way that lack of wheelchair entry can stop them from coming into the institution.
Now, with COVID-19 upending our each day routines, the shift on-line has accelerated. More and extra companies are going digital, with their web site being the one strategy to schedule an appointment, purchase groceries or apply for a job. This makes the necessity for accessible web sites extra important than ever. It shouldn’t be a matter of a minor inconvenience or an lack of ability to entry a brand new know-how or service. We are seeing primary day-to-day wants transferring on-line and changing into much less accessible within the course of. It is that this slide backward that has compelled me to talk up and share my story.
As we go surfing to look at the spotlight clips of our favourite athletes’ performances in Tokyo, take to social media to congratulate them, or go to our favourite sports activities web site to learn the protection of the occasions, let’s demand that these companies make their web sites accessible in order that Paralympic champions can do the identical.
A latest picture of Joseph Wengier at his pc together with his medals within the background. Image Credits: Joseph Wengier.
