For every community, accessibility must be part of overall development planning. Therefore, it is important to include relevant goals and objectives in the Community Development Strategy.
At the same time, these must align with the six pillars of the National Strategy for Creating an Accessible Environment by 2030 and take into account the actual needs of people in that specific community.
Step 1. Understand what barriers exist in the community
It’s best to start with a simple question: What exactly prevents people from fully using the community’s spaces, services, and opportunities?
To do this, analyze the results of the annual accessibility monitoring, data on the accessibility of infrastructure and services, and feedback from residents.
It is important to listen to the people themselves—civil society organizations, people with disabilities, veterans, older adults, parents with young children, and others who face barriers on a regular or occasional basis.
The community’s accessibility officer coordinates this work: they gather proposals for the plan and strategy, monitor their implementation, and report the results to the Local Accessibility Council.
Step 2. Set priorities together with the Local Accessibility Council
The information gathered helps the community determine what needs to be changed first.
The Local Accessibility Council is a forum where representatives of local government, the public, and other stakeholders can work together to identify key challenges and priorities.
This approach helps ensure that people’s real needs are taken into account before the community makes any decisions.
Step 3. Incorporate accessibility into the Community Development Strategy
The accessibility goals and objectives in the Community Development Strategy should align with the six areas of the National Strategy:
- physical;
- informational;
- digital;
- social and civic;
- educational;
- economic accessibility.
At the same time, each community determines for itself what to focus on first—depending on its needs and specific circumstances.
Step 4. Translate goals into specific projects and allocate funding
Each goal must be translated into specific actions: exactly what to do, when, who is responsible, how to measure the results, and sources of funding.
It is important that the Development Strategy, action plan, local programs, and budget are interconnected. Then, accessibility will not remain merely a stated goal but will translate into concrete changes.
To attract investment, communities can use the DREAM ecosystem.
Communities can also receive practical support from the Expertise Center, which draws on the experience gained during the first and second phases of the “Movement Without Barriers” initiative.
The Center provides assistance at every stage—from planning and designing barrier-free routes to identifying grant opportunities for project implementation.
You can submit a request to the Expertise Center at: [email protected]
Step 5. Evaluate the Results and Refine Solutions
It is important not just to count how many measures have been implemented, but to assess what matters most: whether it has truly become easier for people to use the community’s spaces, services, and opportunities.
The Local Accessibility Council, accessibility ambassadors, civil society organizations, and residents themselves should be involved in evaluating the results.
If monitoring reveals new challenges or shows that a particular solution is not working properly, the community can update its priorities and actions.