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Demokratiskolan
The Accessibility card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 110 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaWelfare & health
  • Centre of gravityThe municipality
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe municipal election
Welfare & health

Accessibility

Accessing society on equal terms

The step at the entrance, the website that does not work with a screen reader, the bus without a ramp: accessibility decides who can take part in society at all. The rules are central government and ever more often European, but most barriers are built away, or built in, by municipalities and property owners near you.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · building, streets & lss support · approx 40 %
  • Region · assistive devices & public transport · approx 15 %
  • State · laws, oversight & assistance · approx 30 %
  • EU · accessibility requirements & standards · approx 15 %

The laws are central government and the EU requirements are growing, but the physical barriers are decided where they are: in the municipality's streets, premises and building permits.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe built everyday · centre of gravity
The regionThe devices & the travel
Central governmentThe laws & oversight
Who decides?
The building committee, the technical committee and the social welfare committee with LSS caseworkers.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige), the assistive-device centres and the public transport authority.
The Riksdag, the Equality Ombudsman (DO), the National Board of Housing (Boverket) and the Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan).
What do they decide?
Building permits with accessibility requirements, streets and crossings, the school's premises and support under LSS, such as guidance and assistance.
Assistive devices such as wheelchairs and hearing aids, habilitation and public transport that should work for everyone.
The discrimination act, where a lack of accessibility is discrimination, the planning and building act's requirements, LSS and the assistance benefit.
Where are decisions made?
In the committees. Easily remedied barriers can be reported directly to the building committee.
In the regional council and in the assistive-device services.
In the Riksdag and at the agencies. DO receives reports of discrimination.
Who pays?
The municipal tax. For large assistance needs the central government takes over the cost.
The regional tax, with fees that vary between regions.
The assistance benefit through the Social Insurance Agency and central government grants.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Report barriers to the building committee, a citizen's proposal (medborgarförslag), the municipality's disability council.
Regional election The regional election steers the assistive-device fees, views through the patients' committee.
General election A report to DO, a referral response (remiss) when the laws change.
EUThe EU's accessibility directive requires that products and services, from payment terminals to websites, work for everyone. Shaped in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A step is built away
  1. State

    The law points out the barrier

    The planning and building act requires that easily remedied barriers in public premises and public spaces are dealt with. The discrimination act makes a lack of accessibility a form of discrimination.

    Point of influence

    The general election steers the laws. Discrimination can be reported to DO.

  2. EU

    Europe raises the bar

    The EU's accessibility directive sets requirements on services and products, and common standards govern everything from websites to payment terminals. The requirements apply to Swedish companies and agencies too.

  3. Municipality

    The barrier is reported

    You report the step at the shop entrance to the municipality's building committee, which oversees that property owners follow the requirements. The committee can order the owner to deal with the barrier.

    Point of influence

    Anyone can report an easily remedied barrier. It costs nothing and can often be done through the municipality's website.

  4. Municipality

    The owner deals with it

    The property owner builds a ramp or removes the threshold. At the same time the municipality is responsible for its own streets, stops and premises, where the measures are prioritised in the budget.

    Point of influence

    The municipal election steers how much is built away each year. The disability councils give the associations a voice.

  5. Your everyday life

    The door opens for more

    The barrier is gone, and in come more than was intended: the wheelchair, the pram, the walker, the shopping trolley. Every removed barrier was a decision that could be requested.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Which barriers exist in places you use every week, and who owns them?

  2. What does it mean to take part in society on equal terms: are ramps enough, or is it about more?

  3. What is reasonable to require of a small shop compared with an agency when it comes to accessibility?

  4. How accessible is your municipality's own service: the website, the meetings, the premises?

  5. Who do the politicians listen to on accessibility questions where you live, and who should they listen to more?

Glossary

Enkelt avhjälpt hinder
A barrier in public environments that by law must be removed, for example thresholds and heavy doors.
LSS
The act on support and service for certain people with disabilities: the right to assistance and guidance among other things.
Bristande tillgänglighet
A form of discrimination under the discrimination act: failing to take reasonable measures for accessibility.
Funktionsrättsråd
A forum in many municipalities and regions where disability associations meet politicians.
Habilitering
The region's support to develop the abilities of someone who has a congenital disability.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.