- Conference
- 2024 National Disabled Members' Conference
- Date
- 5 July 2024
- Decision
- Carried
This UNISON Disabled Members Conference believes that it is about time all disabilities, visible and hidden disabilities, are recognised and treated by society as equal.
Created in 1968 by a design student called Susanne Koefoed through a design competition by Rehabilitation International and adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Symbol of Access (ISA) has served as a global icon for accessibility for almost 57 years. This sign, the white icon of a person in a wheelchair set against a blue background is known worldwide. This is found on toilet doors, painted onto parking bays, and seen on public transport signage and indicates that a facility is accessible for those with disabilities, or solely for their use.
This sign has served a useful purpose, but it does not reflect the disabilities that affect disabled people across the United Kingdom. In the general population about only 5% of those with disabilities (around 600,000) are wheelchair users but 2.5-3 million are visually impaired, 1.5-6 million have reading difficulties, 8 million are deaf or hard of hearing, 15 million have mental health difficulties and 1 in 3 people over 55 have Arthritis to name but a small selection.
The symbol has helped so many people in wheelchairs and had such a positive impact on how they navigate around public spaces, but it has also caused a deflection issue for disabled people who don’t use wheelchairs. These people already struggle, and they receive public judgement on top of that. People who question those with invisible disabilities have good intentions, but they are all too often very misinformed. This is an education and awareness challenge that presents us with an opportunity for improvement. We need to address this issue now, 57 years is a long time for your disability not to recognised and those with disabilities are entitled to better recognition, provisions, and equality.
This Conference believes that it cannot be beyond the wit of human capacity to design a new and representative universal symbol of disability that will be more representative of disabled people that can be used to indicate access, facilities, and provisions available for disabled people covering a wide range of disabilities. In fact, some work has already been done on this issue by interested organisations.
Pushing for a healthier respect for disability, and in supporting the revision of the disability symbol to become more inclusive presents a fantastic opportunity to get people thinking and to unconsciously absorb a more positive concept of disability. Let’s not forget that a persons attitude may be a little thing, but it makes a big difference, this conference supports the push for a change in attitude through supporting the need for a more inclusive symbol of disability.
Conference believes that it is about time all disabilities were equally recognised and that these organisations need to be progressing ways to achieve this by adopting an updated, more inclusive symbol for disability in a drive towards changing attitudes to improve the lives of disabled people in becoming more included.
Conference calls upon the National Disabled Members Committee to:
1)Seek to work with the National Executive Council, Trade Unions Congress (TUC), other National UNISON groups to develop a campaign and create an alternative logo.
2)Consider working with other appropriate National Disability Organisations throughout the UK.
3)Work through UNISON Labour Link to lobby the Labour party for endorsement and to develop a realistic and supportive plan.
4)Report back any progress to the Disabled Member conference 2025.