Why access is love and there is no such thing as “barrier free”

A photo of a wall at an art gallery. The text on the wall reads: Our hope is that everyone is able to access and enjoy our exhibitions. If there is anything we can do to improve your experience at the gallery, please let us know.
Wall text at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery. Photo by Stephanie Vegh

I was happy to be invited to contribute to The Cripsters, a new blog at Akimbo.  In this essay I rant advocate for a relational approach to access (one that is grounded in conversation and relationship) and swoon over the Access is Love campaign organized by an incomparable and brilliant trio: Mia Mingus, Sandy Ho and Alice Wong.  Their work encourages me to believe in a possible future where concern for access is shared in community and held with care.

“Given the broad range of human experience, perhaps the most kind and ethical stance is to realize that we can never anticipate every need, let alone develop adequate boxes to check in response. Not that this should keep us from trying to anticipate and meet the needs of our community, but that it should keep us humble.”