GR
*me alla matia = seeing things from a different perspective
Translation of the original text in Greek: Panos Lolos
Once again, the social enterprise for disabled individuals “Me Alla Matia”, thanks to the inclusive action of the National Library of Greece, fulfills its goals for the equal participation of PwD in the design and implementation of projects that concern us.
Following the assignment by the NLG of the project “Service provision for functionality control of logistical equipment for People with Disability” and, in full cooperation with the employees and the Director of the NLG, Mr. Filippos Tsimpoglou, a relevant report was completed.
This is a report on the study and recording of the current state, regarding the logistical equipment for the accessibility of the obstructed members of the National Library of Greece, to the workstations located within the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.
The exhibition was realized after many hours of work in the equipment field by a focus group of end users, i.e., people with visual and motor impairments, as well as professionals in the field of technology and computers.
The importance of the project lies not only in the fact that the NLG claims to include disabled visitors actively but also in the fact that the assignment was made directly for disabled people, thus acknowledging their expertise and experience. The NLG saw the usefulness of end-user feedback, recognizing that simply purchasing disability equipment is not enough; many components need to be taken into account, which only the individuals concerned are aware of.
In this study and recording, the people who work in the NLG supported the NPO “Me Alla Matia” in many ways. Especially Dr. Tsimpoglou immediately realized the difficulties of disabled visitors and outlined the next steps together with disabled people taking action in the field of accessibility and inclusion and acted swiftly. The following steps include the project implementation so that the NLG can immediately operate the most modern and accessible workstations for disabled visitors at the least possible cost while ensuring the quality and public interest of the project.
A big “thank you” from us for the support and recognition.
“Me Alla Matia” was founded in 2018 by the blind lawyer Vaggelis Avgoulas and a group of disabled young people who organized themselves, aiming to claim inclusion and accessibility actively. It was implemented as a continuation of the fully accessible news portal meallamatia.gr, with a vision of eliminating the underrepresentation of disabled people in public discourse. It focuses on accessibility counseling and educational programs for inclusivity in schools, companies, organizations, and municipalities. It operates with the advisory support of a focus group of disabled people and specialized scientists so that all services are provided with the approval of the end users.
