How Accessibility Is For Everyone – A Deaf User Perspective

Abstract

When something is written regarding the need of accessibility, the authors typically put the emphasis in how it is something valuable for the people with disabilities (PwD) that need that accessibility in the first place in order to become included in the society; others follow the more debatable via of the human rights or the strive for a more humanist and inclusive society, even if such accessibility provision ends being legally enforced. Any benefits to non-PwD are usually seen as secondary effects due to PwDs becoming more autonomous or needing less support once the accessibility occurs to some extent. This article drives in a different direction, exposing direct benefits to the non-PwD when the world is more accessible, even when no actual PwD is needing any accessibility. For that purpose, examples are presented with non-PwD being benefited rather than PwD due to accessibilities that were thought to serve only for the PwD.