Changing disability model from medical to social #240
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editorial
Editorial fix that does not affect meaning (typos, formatting, etc)
migration: other
Issues that do not fall into the other three categories
section: other
other section or no specific section
The current document talks a lot about "people with disabilities" but doesn't mention at what times those people are disabled. This feels like an awkward adherence to the medical model of disability, where someone's condition makes them disabled. For WCAG 3.0 it would be better to include something about the aim of the document being that applications and websites are built so as not to disable people.
Some examples:
In these instances, the user is disabled by the website or application, not their condition.
When talking to businesses about disabilities and web accessibility, the greatest success I've had is when I talk to them about changing their mindset from "disabled people" to "people we disable". They're more likely to accept that their actions are what disables people and take action to prevent that, rather than trying to build something "to help disabled people." Not disabling people seems an easier concept to grasp.
A small acknowledgement in the introduction that the aim is to prevent people being disabled by apps and websites would go a long way towards shifting the conversation, making it easier for people who design and build websites to understand the impact their actions take (it's their actions that disable people).
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