The need for an accessible environment can affect every one of us. Our motoric skills or sensory functions can be temporarily or permanently be limited without notice in consequence of a sports injury or accident. Certainly, you have already had problems carrying heavy luggage during a trip. Or you were not able to understand an announcement at a train station or at the airport due to the loud ambient noise. We often do not consciously perceive such and similar situations. People with various types of (permanent) impairments experience such obstacles every day.
When it comes to accessibility, we mostly think of people with disabilities. However, barrier-free solutions also help large groups, such as people with temporary disabilities, the elderly, who have increasing physical complaints and disabilities as they age, parents with children or travellers.
According to Statistics Austria, around 1.7 million people with permanent impairments live in Austria, which is about 20% of the population.
While these figures may appear very high at first glance, it should be kept in mind, that many disabilities are not visible in the first moment.