What is Accessibility?

Accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Pirie (1979) describes accessibility as: ‘the simplicity with which activities in society can be reached, including needs of citizens, trade, industries and public services.’ Accessibility can be viewed as the ability to access and benefit from some system or entity. The concept is often used to focus on people with disabilities or special needs (such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) and their right of access to entities, often through use of assistive technology.

Today, accessibility is considered a basic human right. The fifth standard rule on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities as prescribed by the UN (date) states: ‘States should recognise the overall importance of accessibility in the process of equalization of opportunities in all spheres of society.’

Accessibility places a huge emphasis on person-environmental relationships. (Stahl, Iwarsson). Most models view accessibility as a relation between a person’s functional capacity and the design and demands of the physical environment (Craddock, 2003). 

Accessibility can be considered in the following three steps:

1. The personal component – comprises of the functional capacity of the individual, based on knowledge of human functioning. 
2. The environment component – comprises of barriers in the environment in relation to norms and standards available.
3. An analysis – juxtaposes the personal component and the environmental component.