“Accessibility as a tool for a more inclusive world”

The concept of justice has its origin in Ancient Greece and its prevailing meaning in our society goes back to Plato, for whom this concept covers both the individual and the collective dimension.

During a long period of history, people with disabilities were considered second-class individuals and social outcasts because they were believed to be unable to contribute socially. Only after the two Great Wars did society begin to look at these people differently and then began a process of recognizing the value of the human being, in addition to a perfect body, in the search for social justice.

And it is in search of this social justice that the term accessibility emerged. In a more common sense it would be the access to the use of physical spaces. More widely accessible is the breaking down of barriers that enable effective participation in the most diverse spheres of social life. Including those of an attitudinal, physical, technological, informational, communicational, linguistic and pedagogical nature, among others.

Providing accessibility thus means removing barriers that may prevent human beings from exercising activities and functions in society, if not under similar conditions, at least so that they can express their potential in an individualized way.

I remember a close and contemporary example. One of the greatest geniuses with whom we share the same period in history was Stephen Hawking. He was a theoretical physicist who was still young with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative disease that progressively paralyzes the muscles of the body. Despite the loss of physical autonomy, his brain remained a prodigy, ceaselessly producing research and books, giving classes and lectures.

Science and technology working alongside engineering and design, creating inclusive and diverse spaces to provide society with the best of human beings.