The Many Laws of Accessibility, Part 1: Conventions & Treaties

Published on 17 Dec 2019

• cpacc
• civil-rights
• convention
• industry-specific
• law
• legislation
• marrakesh
• procurement
• technology
• treaty
• un

Say the word "legislation" and my eyes immediately start to glaze over. When laws, preambles, and articles are mentioned, my mind starts to panic. How can I remember this stuff? What does it mean to me, anyway? In 2 posts, I'm going to try to cover some of the important laws that were created for people with disabilities, and a few conventions and treaties that set the groundwork for those laws.

Eleanor Roosevelt, committee chair of the Commission on Human Rights, reads the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Photo from the UN Audiovisual Library.

After the tragedies and loss of WWII, people wanted to do better for all humans across the globe. One instance of standing up for human rights was the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris, France on December 10, 1948. The writing of this declaration was tasked in 1946 to the Commission on Human Rights, led by committee chair Eleanor Roosevelt.

This declaration set the foundation of all other human rights laws. It is the most translated document in the world with over 500 translations. Currently, 192 member states of the United Nations (UN) have agreed to abide by the Declaration, and have found ways to incorporate it into their own law.

In 30 articles, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares the fundamental rights of humanity are:

• life,
• liberty,
• equality,
• spiritual & political freedoms, and
• social, cultural, economic rights.

1. Everyone is born free and equal.
2. Everyone is entitled to the rights listed in the document.
3. Everyone has a right to life, freedom, and safety.
4. No one has the right to enslave anyone.
5. No one has the right to torture or abuse anyone.
6. Everyone has rights no matter where he or she is.
7. The law is the same for everyone and everyone is equal before the law.
8. Everyone's rights are protected by the law.
9. No one has the right to place anyone in prison with no good reason or exile anyone from his or her country.
10. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public trial by an independent party.
11. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Everyone has a right to prove his or her innocence.
12. Everyone has a right to privacy and protection of his or her name.
13. Everyone has the right to move within his or her country and travel as he or she wishes.
14. Everyone has the right to go to another country if he or she fears for safety in his or her own country.
15. Everyone has the right to a nationality and no one should be deprived of his or her nationality or denied change of nationality.
16. Everyone has the right to marry and build a family. Marriage should only be entered into with free and full consent of each spouse. Every family has the right to be protected by society and by the State.
17. Everyone has the right to own property and share property. No one has to right to take or deprive another of his or her property.
18. Everyone has the right to believe what he or she wants to believe in, the right to religion, and the right to change his or her religion.
19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
20. Everyone has the right to assemble together in peace. No one has the right to force another into a group or association.
21. Everyone has the right to democracy, to participate in his or her government, and the right to choose his or her leaders.
22. Everyone has the right to social security: housing, education, childcare, medical assistance, and welfare.
23. Everyone has the right to employment, the right to choose his or her employer, the right to equal compensation, and the right to join a trade union.
24. Everyone has the right to vacation and holidays with pay from work.
25. Everyone has the right to food and shelter to maintain a healthy way of living.
26. Everyone has the right to an education.
27. Everyone has the right to protect his or her artistic and intellectual creations. No one can copy one's creations without his or her permission.
28. Everyone is entitled to proper social order where these rights are fully realized and recognized.
29. Everyone has a duty to protect the rights and freedoms of others.
30. No one can take away anyone's human rights.

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Wikipedia)
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United for Human Rights)
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Office of the High Commissioner)

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) is an international treaty that pushes and monitors national legislation to implement accessibility as a human right for people with disabilities. In other words, the UN CRPD is a binding human rights treaty and serves as a framework for legal advocacy. It was adopted in 2006, and has acquired 163 UN member states signatures and 181 ratifications/accessions. On an American-centric note, the US signed it in 2009, but never ratified it. ☹

In 2008 the Optional Protocol was launched, which implemented the competencies and rights of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to monitor and accept complaints. It strengthened the UN CRPD by giving people with disabilities an additional tool to fight discrimination and exclusion.

The UN CRPD's 50 articles (not posted in detail here) instruct governments, in regard to people with disabilities, to address the following ideas:

• communication about & with people with disabilities
• health care, habilitation, & rehabilitation
• reasonable accommodation and accessibility
• assistive technologies
• access to information and information technology
• independent living and self-determined decisions
• personal mobility (buildings, transports, public spaces)
• social, economic, employment, educational, political, recreational, sport, cultural, and legal activities
• monitoring and reporting the progress and claiming disrespect by national and international human rights institutions

Additionally, the UN CRPD includes ICT, AT, accessibility, and universal design in most of its articles. Those concepts proved to be a driving force for acceptance of the treaty.

A general overview of the 50 articles of the UN CRPD articles:

1. Purpose
2. Definitions
3. General principles
4. General obligations
5. Equality and non-discrimination
6. Women with disabilities
7. Children with disabilities
8. Awareness-raising
9. Accessibility
10. Right to life
11. Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies
12. Equal recognition before the law
13. Access to justice
14. Liberty and security of person
15. Freedom of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
16. Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse
17. Protecting the integrity of the person
18. Liberty of movement and nationality
19. Living independently and being included in the community
20. Personal mobility
21. Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information
22. Respect for privacy
23. Respect for home and the family
24. Education
25. Health
26. Habilitation and rehabilitation
27. Work and employment
28. Adequate standard of living and social protection
29. Participation in political and public life
30. Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport
31. Statistics and data collection
32. International cooperation
33. National implementation and monitoring
34. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
35. Reports by States Parties
36. Consideration of reports
37. Cooperation between States Parties and the Committee
38. Relationship of the Committee with other bodies
39. Report of the Committee
40. Conference of States Parties
41. Depository
42. Signature
43. Consent to be bound
44. Regional integration organizations
45. Entry into force
46. Reservations
47. Amendments
48. Denunciation
49. Accessible format
50. Authentic texts

The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (MVT) was created by WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) and adopted in 2013 in Marrakesh, Morocco. It became legally binding in 2016. The U.S. joined the treaty in 2019 via the S.2559 Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act.

In short, the Marrakesh Treaty allows organizations to convert texts into an accessible and usable format (e.g. braille or audio) for blind, visually impaired, and print disabled without violating copyright.

I can remember when this one when it was first created. I was finishing up library school at the time. There was quite a bit of buzz in the library community about the possibility of an exemption that would widen the access of library materials. It's amazing to me to see that the US finally joined the treaty this year.

• The Treaty of Marrakesh Explained (World Blind Union)
• Marrakesh VIP Treaty (Wikipedia)
• National Library Service Marrakesh Treaty Implementation (National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled)
• Miracle in Marrakesh Makes It to US (American Libraries Magazine)

A lot of groundwork has happened to get people talking, thinking, and enforcing the civil rights of people with disabilities. Efforts like these take many people, many perspectives, and time. It began with a global declaration, followed up by global treaties. Next, I'll approach several civil rights, procurement, and industry-specific laws that have been established across the globe, thanks to the UN Declaration and UN Convention that paved the way toward a more inclusive world.