International Symbol of Access

In the late 1960s, with the rise of universal design, there grew a need for a symbol to identify accessible facilities.{{cite book|last=Groce |first=Nora |title=From charity to disability rights: global initiatives of Rehabilitation International, 1922-2002 |year=2002 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015062418564 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Rehabilitation International}} In 1968, Norman Acton, President of Rehabilitation International (RI), tasked Karl Montan, chairman of the International Commission of Technology and Accessibility (ICTA), to develop a symbol as a technical aid and present in the group's 1969 World Congress convention in Dublin.{{Cite book|last=Guffey |first=Elizabeth |title=Designing Disability: Symbols, Spaces and Society |year=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-350-00426-9}}{{cite web|title=

Symbol Of Accessibility |url=https://www.riglobal.org/about/intl-symbol-of-access/ |publisher=Rehabilitation International}}

The project was arranged with the Scandinavian Students Organization (SDO) in Konstfack's College of Arts. The symbol which would become the ISA was designed by Danish design student Susanne Koefoed.{{Cite journal|last=Guffey |first=Elizabeth |title=The Scandinavian Roots of the International Symbol of Access |year=2015 |journal=Design and Culture |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=357–376 |doi=10.1080/17547075.2015.1105527 |s2cid = 147008626}} She presented an early version of the symbol at the July 1968 exhibition held during the end of the SDO seminar. Koefoed's symbol depicts a stickfigure on a wheelchair. It is influenced by the contemporary design movement of Scandinavia in the 20th century, especially that of Austrian-American designer and lecturer Victor Papanek.{{Cite journal|last=Guffey |first=Elizabeth |title=The Scandinavian Roots of the International Symbol of Access |year=2015 |journal=Design and Culture |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=371 |doi=10.1080/17547075.2015.1105527 |s2cid=147008626}}

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{{gallery

| title = Six final symbols considered by panel{{Cite book |last=Groce |first=Nora |title=From charity to disability rights: global initiatives of Rehabilitation International, 1922-2002 |publisher=University of Michigan Library |pages=52 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015062418564&view=1up&seq=2}}

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| Design by Susanne Koefoed

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| Symbol at Expo 67, Montreal

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| Design by students of Norwich School of Art

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| Symbol of Canadian Committee on Building Standards

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|Symbol of New York State

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| Design by Open Doors for the Handicapped, a Pennsylvania organization of disabled persons

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The committee founded by Montan selected Koefoed's sketch alongside five other symbols. The revised design was modified with the addition of a circle for a head to give the impression of a seated figure, as Montan noted: "a slight inconvenience with the symbol is the equally thick lines, which may give an impression of a monogram of letters. With a 'head' on the symbol this inconvenience would disappear".{{citation|author=International Committee on Technical Aids |title=Symbol of accessibility |year=1969 |location=Stockholm}} This was done without Koefoed's knowledge according to her own recounting.{{cite web|url=http://www.lisahoyrup.dk/jk/skaberen-af-verdens-mest-udbredte-symbol-bes%c3%b8gte-gudhjem/ |title=SKABEREN AF VERDENS MEST UDBREDTE SYMBOL BESØGTE GUDHJEM |date=15 July 2012 |website=lisahoyrup.dk |access-date=2024-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729013721/http://www.lisahoyrup.dk/jk/skaberen-af-verdens-mest-udbredte-symbol-bes%C3%B8gte-gudhjem/ |archive-date=2012-07-29 |url-status=live}}

The design was made public in 1969 and was widely promoted around Sweden. It was approved in the conference gained prominence and usage through convenient signage created by 3M Corporation, and was later incorporated into the ISO 7001 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization. In 1974, it was formally accepted by the United Nations in an experts' meeting on disability.

File:International Symbol of Access variant, Rehabilitation international 1969.svg made in 1969 {{cite book |last1=WTO |title=Tourism Signs & Symbols |date=January 1, 2001 |publisher=United Nations World Tourism Organization |isbn=978-92-844-0378-3}}]]

File:EV-E800-1 wheelchair space.jpgs in a train]]

File:Brooklyn College–Flatbush Av IRT td (2019-05-24) 07.jpg, New York]]

The symbol is often seen where access has been improved, particularly for wheelchair users, but also for other disability issues.{{cite journal |last1=Ben-Moshe |first1=Liat |last2=Powell |first2=Justin J.W. |title=Sign of our Times: Revis(it)ing the International Symbol of Access |url=http://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/4808 |year=2007 |journal=Disability & Society |volume=22 |issue=5 |pages=89–505 |doi=10.1080/09687590701427602 |s2cid=34075172 |access-date=2020-09-13 |archive-date=2023-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420075412/https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/4808 |url-status=dead }} Frequently, the symbol denotes the removal of environmental barriers, such as steps, which also helps older people, parents with baby carriages, and travellers.{{cite web|last1=Powell |first1=Justin J. W. |last2=Ben-Moshe |first2=Liat |title=The Icons of Access: From Exclusion to Inclusion. Stimulus Respond "icon" issue |url=http://www.stimulusrespond.com/icon.pdf |date=Autumn 2009 |pages=90–95 |access-date=2009-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716143304/http://www.stimulusrespond.com/icon.pdf |archive-date= 2011-07-16 |url-status=dead}} Universal design aims to obviate such symbols by creating products and facilities that are accessible to nearly all users from the start. The wheelchair symbol is "international" and therefore not accompanied by Braille in any particular language.

Specific uses of the ISA include:

• Marking a parking space reserved for vehicles used by people with disabilities/blue badge holders
• Marking a vehicle used by a person with a disability, often for permission to use a space
• Marking a public lavatory with facilities designed for wheelchair users
• Indicating a button to activate an automatic door
• Indicating an accessible transit station or vehicle
• Indicating a transit route that uses accessible vehicles

Building codes such as the California Building Code, require "a white figure on a blue background. The blue shall be equal to Color No. 15090 in Federal Standard 595B."{{cite web |title=California Building Code 2010, Section 1117B.5.8 |url=http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/st/ca/st/b200v10/st_ca_st_b200v10_11b_sec018.htm |access-date=2013-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624123259/http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/st/ca/st/b200v10/st_ca_st_b200v10_11b_sec018.htm |archive-date=2016-06-24 |url-status=dead}}

File:Alternative Handicapped Accessible sign.svg

In 2010, artists Sara Hendren, Brian Glenney, and Tim Ferguson Sauder co-founded the Accessible Icon project, an art project in order to design a new icon with focus on the person with disability, as they felt that the old icon felt "robotic" and "stiff".{{cite news|title=Wheelchair icon revamped by guerrilla art project|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/12/13/disability-icon-revamped-guerilla-art-project/HZDJAIORZvL68dukN9L0TL/story.html|newspaper=The Boston Globe}} It underwent many versions until arriving on the current, dynamic design depicting a person leaning forward and arms raised to indicate movement.

Some disability organizations such as Enabling Unit in India have promoted it,{{cite web|title=Medical Partners I The Accessible Icon Project |url=http://www.accessibleicon.org/partners.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701073838/http://www.accessibleicon.org/partners.html |archive-date=2013-07-01 }} This version of the symbol is officially used in the U.S. states of New York and Connecticut.{{cite news|last1=Chokshi|first1=Niraj|title=The handicap symbol gets an update—at least in New York state|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/07/29/the-handicap-symbol-gets-an-update-at-least-in-new-york-state/|access-date=13 May 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=29 July 2014}}{{Cite press release |url=http://portal.ct.gov/Departments_and_Agencies/Office_of_the_Governor/Press_Room/Press_Releases/2016/06-2016/Gov__Malloy_Announces_Modernized_Symbol_and_Language_to_be_Phased_in_on_New_Reserved_Parking_Signs/ |title=Gov. Malloy Announces Modernized Symbol and Language to be Phased in on New Reserved Parking Signs |date=June 2016 |access-date=2016-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005153234/http://portal.ct.gov/Departments_and_Agencies/Office_of_the_Governor/Press_Room/Press_Releases/2016/06-2016/Gov__Malloy_Announces_Modernized_Symbol_and_Language_to_be_Phased_in_on_New_Reserved_Parking_Signs/ |archive-date=2016-10-05 |url-status=dead}} The Modified ISA is in the permanent collection of Museum of Modern Art in New York.{{cite news |title=Museum of Modern Art |url=http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=174887}} In Canada, it is permitted as an alternative option in the British Columbia Building Codes 2024 edition, but not yet permitted in the national parent code or Alberta edition.{{cite book |last=National Research Council Canada |author-link=National Research Council Canada |date=24 November 2023 |title= British Columbia BUILDING CODE 2024 |url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/construction-industry/building-codes-and-standards/revisions-and-mo/bcbc_2024.pdf |publisher=Crown Publications |pages=3–274 Division B}}

The Accessible Icon has also had detractors within the disabled community. According to Emma Teitel of the Toronto Star, critics say that the modified image does not universally represent all disabled people, since it socially stigmatizes those who have a disability but do not use a wheelchair.{{cite news |last1=Teitel |first1=Emma |title=Critics of new 'dynamic' disability symbol not just anti-PC cranks: Teitel |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/04/26/critics-of-new-dynamic-disability-symbol-not-just-anti-pc-cranks-teitel.html |access-date=25 November 2018 |work=Toronto Star |date=26 April 2017}} Critics have defended the old International Symbol of Access for its more abstract design, which leaves more to the imagination and can represent any disability.{{cite magazine |last=Frost |first=Natasha |date=March 29, 2018 |title=The Controversial Process of Redesigning the Wheelchair Symbol |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wheelchair-symbol-redesign |magazine=Atlas Obscura}}{{cite book |last=Guffey |first=Elizabeth |date=2017 |title=Designing Disability: Symbols, Space, and Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vr0-DwAAQBAJ |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781350004252}}

In May 2015, the Federal Highway Administration rejected the new design for use on road signs in the United States, citing the fact that it has not been adopted or endorsed by the U.S. Access Board, the agency responsible for developing the federal criteria for accessible design. The International Organization for Standardization, which established the regular use of the original symbol under ISO 7001, has also rejected the design.{{cite web|title=Interpretation Letter 2(09)-111(I)|url=https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/interpretations/2_09_111.htm}}

In 2024, the new design has been integrated in the improved European Parking card for persons with disabilities.{{Cite web |title=European Disability Card and European Parking card for persons with disabilities |url=https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1139 |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=ec.europa.eu |language=en}}

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| header = Wheelchair emoji in Noto

| image1 = Noto Emoji Oreo 267f.svg

| alt1 = Emoji of the International Symbol of Access, depicting a white line figure of a person seated over the axis of a wheelchair on blue background

| caption1 = Android Oreo (8.x)

| image2 = Noto Emoji v2.034 267f.svg

| alt2 = Emoji of the Accessible Icon, depicting a white line figure of a person leaning forward, arm raised to propel a wheelchair on blue background

| caption2 = Android 10

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The International Symbol of Access is assigned the Unicode emoji code point {{Unichar|267F|WHEELCHAIR SYMBOL|ulink=Miscellaneous Symbols}}, and it was added to Unicode 4.1 in 2005 as part of Emoji 1.0.{{cite web|title=The Unicode Standard, Version 5.0 |url=http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2600.pdf |publisher=The Unicode Consortium |pages=211 |year=2006 |access-date=2007-07-26}} In 2016 with the release of iOS 10.0, Apple updated the emoji to use the Accessible Icon.{{cite web|url=https://emojipedia.org/wheelchair-symbol |title=Wheelchair Symbol |website=Emojipedia |access-date=2024-07-28}}{{cite news|last=Arndt |first=Rachel Z. |title=Today's iOS 10 Emoji Updates Are Way Better Than We Expected |url=https://medium.com/dose/10-of-the-best-emoji-updates-in-ios-10-84c42ddbc93e |date=September 13, 2016 |work=Dose |publisher=Medium |access-date=2024-07-28}}

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{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Symbols of wheelchairs|International Symbol of Access}}
• [https://www.iso.org/standard/77442.html ISO's catalog entry for ISO 7001]
• [https://www.riglobal.org/about/intl-symbol-of-access/ Symbol Of Accessibility] on Rehabilitation International's website
• [https://www.brianglenney.com/accessible-icon-project Accessible Icon Project] by Brian Glenney and Sara Hendren

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