Charlotte Esch

AccessAbility

AccessAbility is a cross-disability consultancy working for the inclusion of persons with disability that was established in 2006. It started as the first professional and the premier accessibility consultancy service in India with our motto "Access = Ability" that metamorphosed into a consultancy working toward inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities rather than merely accessibility. It was the introduction of the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) in 2008, that made us introspect our work and made us see working towards the implementation of Article 19 of the CRPD (titled - living independently and participating in ones community) as our goal. The implementation of the article requires the government to ensure that all persons with disabilities are able to live an autonomous life and participate in their communities. The crux of the article is about negating the isolation and segregation disabled people face and foster inclusion. Guided by the CRPD, it was, natural for us to broaden the scope of our work as accessibility, assistive devices and support services are considered as per-requisites for making this right real. It made us start researching and understanding these areas more closely especially in relation to persons with disabilities in rural communities who are the most neglected.