January is the time for new starts. Resolutions, new strategies and new commitments to “doing better”. Accessibility often gets swept up in that energy — and with it, a few familiar accessibility myths about what access really looks like. For the most part, it’s not because people don’t care. It’s because accessibility is still widely misunderstood.
Here are some of the most common accessibility myths – and how we can all do better.
“We’re accessible – we have a ramp.”
Having a ramp is great – but it’s only the start of the story.
Accessibility isn’t about one feature or adjustment. It’s about the entire experience – from how a disabled person physically accesses your environment to how they are made to feel once they’re there. Are staff welcoming and using inclusive language? Are accessibility features well maintained and able to be used?
I regularly encounter “accessible” spaces where the disabled toilet is used as a storage cupboard – leaving me no space to manoeuvre the wheelchair. Or an accessible entrance which is out of view, with no signage. Yes, these venues are technically compliant but that doesn’t always mean practically accessible.
Doing Better:
Think in journeys, not in individual feature. How does someone get from our car park to our reception desk? Walk through it as if you were experiencing it for the first time – because for someone, it always is.
“Accessibility is about wheelchair users.”
Thinking about wheelchair access is important – but it’s only a piece of the puzzle.
Accessibility includes individuals who have sensory impairments, learning disabilities, chronic illness or fatigue and those with different ways of thinking and processing information, including neurodivergent people.
If accessibility is treated as a single issue with a single solution, a lot of people will be forgotten.
Doing Better:
Broaden the lens. Ask whose needs are being considered – and whose might be missing entirely. Ask: What can we do to ensure everybody’s needs are being met?
“We’ll sort accessibility once everything else is in place.”
Accessibility delayed is accessibility denied.
When inclusion is added on at the end, it often becomes more expensive, more complicated and much less effective. Accessibility should never be an after thought and it’s obvious when it is.
When disabled people can’t access a space, service or opportunity, they don’t experience it as a delay – they experience it as an exclusion.
Doing Better:
Build accessibility in from the start. It’s easier, more sustainable and sends a very clear message about who belongs.
“We’ve never had any complaints.”
This one always makes me pause.
A lack of complaints doesn’t mean a lack of barriers. Often, it means people have already decided it’s not worth the effort to raise their concerns.
There’s been so many occasions when I’ve wanted to raise an issue — but I simply don’t have the energy to do so. After navigating access issues, advocating for adjustments, or simply getting through the day, making a complaint can feel like one hurdle too many. So instead, people adapt, work around the problem, or quietly stop engaging altogether.
Silence, in this context, isn’t comfort. It’s often fatigue.
Doing better:
Create clear, welcoming ways for people to give feedback – and show that you take it seriously when they do.
Moving Forward
Accessibility isn’t about being perfect.
It’s about being willing — willing to listen, to learn, and to change things that aren’t working.
If this year is about “doing better”, then accessibility deserves more than good intentions. It deserves attention, action, and honesty.
And sometimes, it starts with admitting:
we thought we were accessible — but we can do better.
Whether you’re a school, organisation or service provider, understanding where the real barriers are is the first step to removing them. If you’d like support reviewing your environment, processes or communication through an accessibility lens, I’d be happy to help.