Accessibility Trauma: Removing the Barrier Does Not Remove the Memory of Hitting It
I recently came across an insightful article by Paul Smyth MBE, Director of Digital Accessibility at Barclays and Board Member of the Business Disability Forum, titled Accessibility Trauma: Removing the Barrier Does Not Remove the Memory of Hitting It. His central argument is both simple and powerful: while organisations may remove accessibility barriers from technology, they do not automatically remove the lasting impact of years spent encountering those barriers. Smyth introduces the concept of "accessibility trauma", not as a clinical diagnosis, but as the cumulative emotional, psychological, and practical effects of repeatedly encountering inaccessible systems. One inaccessible website is frustrating. Hundreds of inaccessible websites, apps, and online services over many years teach a person to expect exclusion. Eventually the question stops being, "Can I do this?" and becomes "Will this work for someone like me?" The Accessibility Tax Many disabled pe...