I’m gonna keep this brief.

Do you care about the people around you?

This issue was planned around the theme of accessibility, leading up to Access Day May 18 on CiTR 101.9FM — a day of special programming that questions all aspects of accessibility, physical and otherwise. We have a brief interview with some organizers and participants of Access Day on page 20. Eleanor Wearing has also researched a two-part article on the accessibility, or inaccessibility, of local cultural events. Beyond that, the topic of accessibility is an undercurrent: Jules Galbraith asks Deep Blue about their accessibility in a D.I.Y. art space; Dora Dubber interviews So I had an abortion… founder Julia Santana Parilla about accessing information on abortion; Tintin Yang interviews Vancouver Mural Festival’s David Vertesi about organizing an event that implicates everyone; and I ask Syrian author Ahmad Danny Ramadan, “What is home?” in the context of immigration.

Are these articles really about accessibility if they are not directly related to mobility? I think so. Not to undercut the advocacy of making spaces more physically accessible — which is the priority — the topic of accessibility is larger than that. To seriously enact accessibility requires relearning how we move around public space in relation to other people, and how we accommodate those around us. It involves realizing that every person processes situations differently. It involves compassion.

 

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