Q&A: Towards a world with access for all

旨在改善残疾人权利的立法已建立。巴西研究员杰西卡·诺贝托·罗查（Jessica Norberto Rocha）说，但是在科学领域完全包容的障碍要慢得多。

Rocha, who has worked for more than a decade in public engagement in science and technology, has been conducting studies to map disabilities legislation and better understand how Latin American science institutions have been tackling — or failing to tackle — the issue of accessibility.

Rocha是Cecierj Foundation的科学沟通者和研究员，Rio de Janeiro的高等教育和科学传播中的远程学习中心以及可访问的科学博物馆和中心的协调员。她与之交谈SciDev.Net关于促进所有人的包容性仍然需要做的事情。

The debate on how to improve accessibility for people with disabilities — and legislation to enforce this — has been gaining traction in recent decades. Could you give an overview of the situation?

残疾人权利运动并不是什么新鲜事。自1948年《普遍的人权宣言》以来，我们一直采取行动，目的是将残疾人包括在社会中。在1960年代和1970年代，[权利运动]中有显着增长，导致了各种平权行动（以改善可访问性）。

“Many countries are still unable to guarantee these rights and numerous barriers are created by society for people with disabilities to participate and engage in the scientific universe,”

Jessica Norberto Rocha, science communicator and researcher, Cecierj Foundation

As a result of much societal pressure over the last 40 years, authorities and non-governmental organisations have designed support programmes focusing on these issues. In 2006, the UN launched its Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol, which work alongside the Universal Declaration. These two documents represent the disability movement’s victory; they brought hope to billions of persons with disabilities, because they highlighted the obligation of states to promote and protect the rights and dignity of disabled people.

最近，2015年设定的2030年可持续发展目标议程有望抛弃，包括残疾人和残疾人作为跨裁判问题。

在拉丁美洲，许多国家最近制定了有关可访问性的立法。该地区有多少个国家朝这个方向发展？

拉丁美洲的[联合国]公约的运动于2001年在墨西哥发起，并在接下来的几年中获得了其他拉丁美洲国家的立即支持。在2006年出版之后，包括所有拉丁美洲国家在内的162个国家都签署了它并在不同时间批准了它。

Our study group conducted a survey in 2017 and identified 18 Latin American countries that have laws aimed at the inclusion of people with disabilities, plus one country with an action plan (Cuba). Some of these are very recent and are already in accordance with the UN Convention, which is the case for Brazil.

What are the main aspects of such legislation in Latin America? Has it been successful in promoting inclusion for people with disabilities?

通过这项立法，各国已致力于实施促进平等获得和残疾人权利的行动。立法很重要，因为当官方文件中清楚地表达了残疾人的权利时，它赋予所有公民具有法律约束力的权利。

In this sense, advances have been made in the legislative arena in Latin America. However, substantial changes are not immediate, and many challenges are being seen in different areas, such as education, mobility and cultural and scientific access.

Researchers and practitioners working on social inclusion and disabilities have highlighted the fact that access to science for deaf and blind people is much more difficult than for people who hear and see. Why is that?

这是因为立法与现实生活中发生的事情之间存在差距。最常见的是，很困难的是，残疾人的教育和机会可以增加其文化资本的生活经验，例如阅读书籍，去博物馆和展览以及获得科学信息的机会。

许多国家仍然无法保证这些权利，社会为残疾人参与和参与科学宇宙而构成了许多障碍。结果，他们不太可能进入大学，从事科学职业，因此在这些学术世界中代表。这些障碍会影响个人的整个生活轨迹，并可能在下一代中永久存在。

How do communication difficulties play into this?

世界7200万聋人的母语通常是他们的民族标志语言and there are around 300 different sign languages. But only 41 countries in the world have recognised sign language as an official language, and in some of them — such as Brazil’s Libras — there are no or few signs for scientific terms. Furthermore, most teachers and interpreters, when available, do not know the scientific terms, which is a significant limitation in science communication.

In schools and conferences there are few resources and strategies for the inclusion of blind or visually impaired people: slideshows, videos, and other data visualisations have no audio description, nor are there professionals qualified to offer this. Many institutional webpages and repositories are not accessible to screen readers. Thus, experiments and facilities have poor accessibility for deaf and blind people, creating a barrier for their representation in different areas of knowledge.

您对拉丁美洲科学中心和博物馆的可及性进行了研究。你发现了什么？

Science museums are powerful places not only for science communication, informal science teaching and leisure, but also for promoting science and technology in an equitable and inclusive way. However, to guarantee accessibility and inclusion at museums and institutions devoted to science communication, it is not enough simply to adapt buildings to improve physical access. All their services must be equipped so any person can reach, activate, use and experience them.

In our studies in Latin America we are seeing that these institutions generally offer some physical accessibility but fewer resources for tackling communicational and attitudinal barriers. Also, there is an absence of institutional practices; they are still sporadic rather than routine. If these institutions are to become more inclusive, organisational change is needed so that accessibility and social inclusion become part of their mission.

您认为与残疾人接触的优先事项应该是什么？

该领域的研究，行动和实践需要更多的资金。需要进行更多的学术研究来建立对机构环境和学习过程的了解，这些过程不仅在博物馆和科学文化空间中，而且还用于媒体，文化设施以及基础和高等教育。

We need people with disabilities playing a greater role as protagonists, professionals and consultants, and as the subjects of research, since research into their perspectives would cast much light on accessibility, or its lack thereof.

Finally, it is important to train staff and personnel, increase management and decision-maker awareness, and foster initiatives that familiarise people with national laws and international conventions that guarantee the rights of people with disabilities and their access and full enjoyment of life.