One billion reasons to deal with accessibility

According to the World Health Organization, there are one billion people with disabilities in the world. With that, there is a possibility that one in every seven people around you may have some form of disability; just to put that into perspective.

You must be wondering why this figure is so big or what constitutes a disability? According to the study, “two thirds of disabilities are non-communicable disease such as cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer. Nine percent is attributable to conditions resulting from infectious diseases such as measles and polio, and a similar percentage is due to injuries sustained in motor-vehicle crashes, falls and so on.” (The Globe and Mail). What’s more, the aging baby boomer population number is growing and increased accessibility issues are looming. Disabilities used to be associated with purely health problems but it is also the possibility of having being denied opportunities.

So what does this all mean as a society? It means that we need to come together to acknowledge these issues by promoting opportunities for preventing disabilities such as safety training, making buildings, homes and public places more accessible for everyone and by being sensitive to the needs of those who do have them. Companies such as Savaria and eSSENTIAL Accessibility are making a push to ensure the most amount of accessibility in day to day activities or online. For information about the report and interviews take a look at the article from the Globe and Mail or the United Nations, for more information on how to make your home or workplace more accessible check out www.savaria.com and for online accessibility, http://www.essentialaccessibility.com/