We believe that the person is not the problem. The disability is not the thing that stands in the way of our service users achieving their hopes, dreams, and aspirations.
The barriers are presented by an inequitable society that places obstacles in the way of people with disabilities. These obstacles can include poorly designed public realm, buses that do not speak so that you cannot know where you are, people giving inadequate descriptions as to where things are such as “it’s over there.”
It also includes poor lighting and inadequate colour contrast. Also, the obstacles of inaccessible documents – important documents such as mortgage or rent agreements, utility bills and bank statements.
When society says that a disability is the barrier, that places the responsibility back on the person, it removes responsibility from individuals without disabilities, from governments, and from corporations. In an equitable and inclusive world, responsibility is accepted by us all to create a physical and digital environment that works for us all.
We will lead by our example, and we will work hard through our campaigning to hold people to account and to ensure this happens for people with vision impairments in South West Cumbria.
