For access to be the default and not an “add-on” or a “special need,” access must be a right and not a privilege. Rights are available to everyone while privileges are given to people based upon their social standing. (Learn more about the difference between a right and a privilege ↗.)
When access is treated as a privilege given to those who are worthy of receiving it (an effect of privilege being based upon social standing), there will always be those who need access who are considered by some to be unworthy of receiving that access.
Some people will argue that access is a “special need,” a “privilege,” or an “add-on” to existing places, products, events, and services. This argument is wrong. What is perceived to be “extra” ensures that everyone receives the same right to access.
Parts of life are accessed in different ways, which creates different access needs. (“Access needs” can be defined as what is required for a person or people to have their needs — perhaps in a class, at an event, on transport, etc. — fulfilled in a way that provides the same access as others, while using an approach different from what is considered to be standard.)
For everyone to have access, “separate but unequal” and “separate but equal” access are not enough: we must have equal, united access, which means providing different forms of access. Meeting the access needs of all helps to provide an equitable and just environment.
Until these issues are addressed, only the most privileged of us will be able to receive the access we need; this reduces access to a privilege instead of a right.
Access Justice Framework Table of Contents
What are the The 10 Principles of the Access Justice Framework?
- Access is for everyone.
- Providing access is not about tokenization or virtue signaling; it is about equity.
- Access needs to be the default, not an add on. It is a right, not a privilege. It is not a special need.
- Access friction is real and is not a reason to avoid providing access, nor to discriminate.
- Access is about more than accommodating and assisting: it is about adapting the world to fit everyone.
- Barriers to access come from systemic oppression such as ableism, not from disability.
- Access is about inclusion of us – Nothing About Us Without Us – in leadership, governing, and decision-making.
- Time, money, energy, and safety are all access issues.
- Access, when equitable, is a form of justice.
- As the world changes, so do access needs. Access adapts.
Learn more via Access is for Everyone with the Access Justice Framework.
Access is a right, not a privilege © 2021 by Caz Killjoy is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International ↗
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