Universal design and accessibility in Taipei City: Definitions, design, and the Disability Rights Movement

Author

Hannah GouletteFollow

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Date of Graduation

Spring 2019

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7946-1341

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Advisor(s)

Rebecca E. Howes-Mischel

Megan E. Tracy

Kerry M. Dobransky

Abstract

Abstract

In Taiwan, the disability rights advocacy movement has existed since the 1980s. The lift of Martial law in 1987 allowed multiple social movements to flourish. Specifically, the disability rights movement adopted language developed by other global social movements, such as Universal Design. This social movement worked closely with the government to make effectual infrastructural change to institute accessibility in Taipei, the capital city. However, a close review of government objectives and initiatives in published works, and the goals and initiatives of disability advocate groups, reveals that there has been a shift in the definition of accessibility in the advocacy rights movement from infrastructural accessibility to social accessibility. This project is an analysis of the media and published works of the Taiwanese government in relation to universal design goals, and the same media from advocacy groups about their own goals and objectives for disability rights, outlining the definition gap and finding the true definition of social accessibility. The advocacy rights movement has shifted its view of accessibility to a fully liveable society in which disabled persons may thrive and have fully realized social rights, whereas the government of Taipei City still views accessibility as a right to accessible built infrastructure.

Recommended Citation

Goulette, Hannah, "Universal design and accessibility in Taipei City: Definitions, design, and the Disability Rights Movement" (2019). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 676.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/676