New Zealanders with a range of disabilities are scaling up their efforts to introduce much needed accessibility legislation that would set out a minimum access standard for workplaces, public infrastructure and transportation. The newly created Access Alliance has written an Open Letter calling on all political parties to commit to the legislation, and is pointing to new UMR research that shows very high levels of support for a law among the public. Currently there are no specific standards on what organisations must do to become fully accessible, and there are no penalties for non-observance.
Kathryn Ryan talks to David Lepofsky who is an acclaimed Canadian lawyer, activist and academic, and blind himself, who helped pass pivotal pieces of Canadian accessibility legislation; and Amy Hogan who is a writer and researcher for the Cerebral Palsy Society of New Zealand.
