Accessibility checklist to encourage more inclusivity across nation

Jamaica now has an official Accessibility Checklist for persons living with disabilities which complements the long called for Disabilities Act 2022, that was made effective on Valentine’s Day that year by the Government.

This checklist is designed to identify architectural and communication barriers encountered by persons with disabilities in private and public facilities.

It is based on the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guideline and Chapter 11 (Accessibility) of the Kentucky Building Code 1997.

The Accessibility Checklist was launched on Monday at the AC Hotel in St Andrew by the Government in partnership with the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities and as the second activity for Disabilities Awareness Week 2023.

This followed the act’s approval in 2014 and the affirmation of the Disabilities Regulations in 2021. The act makes provisions to safeguard and enhance the welfare of persons with disabilities across Jamaica.

Leading the charge of persons who collectively launched the Accessibility Checklist was Collette Roberts Risden, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

Roberts Risden stressed that the need for inclusion concerning persons living with disabilities should start with the very young.

“If we want true inclusion, we have to start from the very young where our children will learn that to have a disability is normal, and in it being normal, we don’t treat persons differently,” Risden Roberts said.

She said to see the launch of the disabilities accessibility checklist was an achievement for Jamaica, and that she hoped the country would learn from the piece of literature, and apply it to help change Jamaica “to become inclusive, accessible and that all our children, no matter where they’re from, their abilities [and] talents will have the same opportunity as everyone”.

Pearnel Charles Jr, minister of labour and social security, said the launch was “very important” and that the Disability Accessibility Checklist was just one element of a range of things that the Government has been doing/is doing and will continue to do to ensure that accessibility is for all.

“I really hope we bring across the message to Jamaica, that there is a paradigm shift/a new era. This is commitment in action in terms of the Government ensuring that we are not just talking, but we are putting in place the framework and the environment to allow accessibility to be a reality,” Charles Jr said.

“We have started two years ago with the legislation that was pivotal in creating that framework; a legislative triumph in terms of full implementation of the Disabilities Act, and the accompanying regulations.”

He said the act certainly was a very important cornerstone in terms of Jamaica’s social development strategy as it complements the Disabilities Act 2022 and Disabilities Week, which is now being celebrated across the island.

In an interview with The Gleaner, one person living with a disability noted that the Accessibility Checklist was very important to their community, “given that the Disabilities Act is not just about ramps and rails”.

The individual added: “It is also about the width of doorways, the placement of signage and font types. Basically, it involves all that have to do with ensuring that persons with disabilities can participate in all levels of the society”.

Disabilities Awareness Week continued yesterday with a National Validation Sensitisation Session at the University of the West Indies, Mona, today moves into a National Disability Validation Sensitisation Session in St James; and Legal Aid Expo at Harmony Park in Montego Bay, St James, and on Saturday, with the Review of the Code of Practice for Education in Montego Bay.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.cm