Accessibility included in the agenda

In late 2017, Hansel was invited to participate in the Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities’ work group that focuses on the promotion of accessibility. The aim is to improve the consideration of accessibility in the tendering competitions for the government’s framework agreements, and to make use of the extensive accessibility know-how of the Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities. In early 2018, an expert from Hansel and another one from the Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities met to discuss the tendering competition for conference and accommodation services.

In 2018, the aim is to clarify Hansel’s processes in respect to the consideration of accessibility. Accessibility should be viewed as a more complex matter than the removal of obstacles; it also includes the usability of various services, for example. A new decree on the accessibility of buildings, the Non-discrimination Act, and the European Accessibility Act came into force in the beginning of 2018; the implementation of the latter on a national level is still in progress.