Access Matters

John is blind and has difficulty accessing buildings in Christchurch. Many of them have changed since the earthquakes.

I became blind overnight. I now have a guide dog but I have had some very negative experiences.

I use an electric wheelchair for mobility, it is quite long from the footplate to the small wheels at the back. When I need an accessible toilet I often find them inaccessible.

Going to the hospital and having surgery is traumatic enough – imagine your diagnosis and treatment information isn't presented to you in a format that is accessible, that hospital staff don’t have adequate tools required to communicate with you, and that the waiting rooms overload your senses.

Sarah, who is blind, would love to choose her own clothes as she is fashion conscious. She requires help when shopping for clothes but finds it is fraught with many difficulties. Her family is unsupportive and when they do go shopping with her tend to choose the first outfit she tries on.

I was off to my hairdressing appointment and I needed to cross a road. I found the button for the traffic light, and pressed it, expecting it to beep regularly, but this one didn't make any noise. I listened hard to see if the traffic had stopped.

`When I thought it had, I decided to take my life into my own hands and cross the road quickly.`

I'm 22 and I want to be able to tell my future kids that the law in Aotearoa is clear: it says that accessibility is a priority, and as such, recognises that we deserve access to the premises and services of business, education providers, construction workers and transport operators as much as every other New Zealander. We want the freedom to live our lives how we choose; we want to use our time and energy to contribute to the economy and our communities.