Ian Streets, NRAC consultant at About Access, reflects on how short films about disability and inclusion challenge the way buildings, infrastructure and public spaces are designed. By turning accessibility on its head, he highlights why inclusive design is not an add-on, but a fundamental consideration for today’s built environment
If you’ve emerged from the festive season having watched your fill of repeats and remakes on TV, apologies for adding to the list now. A one-minute film grabbed my attention on social media for the way in which it turns the tables in terms of accessibility issues.
Imagine if the world really was designed around the needs of people who have impairments, to the point where it discriminated against everybody else. How much more difficult would it become for non-disabled people? The video by The Ad People gives you an idea of the challenges that might result.
A look back: Revisiting Talk and the Disability Discrimination Act
It also took me back 20 years to “Talk”, a film released by the Disability Rights Commission in December 2020 and ripe for a remake – subject to budget – to bring things up to date.
With a simple strapline, “the world is harder when it’s not designed for you”, the Ad People’s film puts non-disabled people in the minority.
It presents a series of scenarios, each only a few seconds long, to show wheelchair users hampering pedestrians in the street, a customer in a bank bamboozled by the teller’s ability to communicate only using sign language, and someone picking up a book full of blank pages and therefore finding it impossible to read. Google it, and think about how easy it could be to make each situation more accessible to all.
The Disability Rights Commission was replaced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2007, but Talk, which squeezes any number of business, community and social aspects of accessibility into less than 11 minutes, can still be viewed online, and it seems there are also DVDs available.
In summary, Talk takes place around a high-powered board meeting where suited, male executives are reminded by the blonde, female secretary of the need to discuss the Disability Discrimination Act. There isn’t time, so they agree to resume two days later.
The film focuses on Robert, a young go-getter who reveals to the “secretary” that he has an interview the following day for a new job. He goes home to prepare and, aided by copious amounts of whisky, falls asleep at his desk.
His computer is still on and takes him to a world which is very different. He can’t communicate with people in the street because they only use sign language. He can’t get a taxi, nor can he find his way into the building for his interview.
The lift attendant and receptionist – who are both disabled – are patronising and impatient. It’s the same with the interview panel, which includes a man who is visually impaired, another man who has cerebral palsy, and a woman who uses a wheelchair.
It’s clear that the only reason Robert doesn’t get the job is that he’s non-disabled. The discrimination becomes deeper when he’s told the bus home is only for wheelchair users.
He seeks consolation from a night on the town and goes to a restaurant where the staff can’t find his reservation until he points it out himself. There are stares and snide comments as Robert is led to a table next to the main door to the kitchen. Then on to a nightclub, where people tell him how brave he is to be enjoying a social life as a non-disabled person. And then leading the discussion as the board meeting resumes the next day.
Talk is about attitudes towards disability and the infrastructure and policies needed to support accessibility.
It’s interesting that the item about the Disability Discrimination Act – which was replaced by the Equality Act in 2010 – wasn’t even on the main agenda and was clearly seen as an interference when it was raised by the only woman in the room.
Asked by the chair of the board what they should do about it, Robert pauses for thought and replies: “We do whatever the law requires us to do. Hearing aids, ramps, I don’t know. Just keep the costs down.
“Don’t get me wrong – my cousin’s disabled. I know what it’s like for them. But it’s crazy to spend more than we have to. I mean, do we even have any disabled people working here?”
And a colleague contributes: “Those ramps make damn good PR!”
Designing for everyone – now and in the future
Yes, Talk is superficial, even trite, but in a short space of time, it highlights in very simple terms issues which remain relevant even now. It certainly struck a chord with me 20 years ago, as the more recent clips on social media have with others.
A modern remake could do much more. For example, Talk doesn’t pick up on the issues facing people who have multiple impairments. Also, the definition of disability hasn’t altered, but there are other conditions which are now recognised as being disabling, with awareness of the need for further adjustments not always keeping pace.
A really ambitious remake might be to feature attitudes to accessibility through the ages. Past, present and future. I wonder if David Tennant is busy at the moment.
