Experiences of individuals with disabilities in accessibility advocacy: A qualitative assessment

This study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of disabled individuals in their struggle for accessibility. It also seeks to explore disabled individuals' perspectives on disability, their overall views on accessibility, and their opinions on the legal and practical state of accessibility in Türkiye. In this study, a qualitative method was employed and a phenomenological approach was adopted due to its ability to facilitate a multidimensional examination of the discussed phenomenon or event. Disabled individuals in Türkiye who are advocating for accessibility, whether under the auspices of a non-governmental organization, through an online platform, or on an individual basis, form the research population. 23 disabled individuals, comprising 22 with visual impairments and one with an orthopedic disability, were selected for the research sample. Participants were recruited through snowball and purposive sampling techniques. The research data were collected via semi-structured interviews conducted online, adhering to the participants' preferences. The researcher used a semi-structured interview form and a socio-demographic information form, which were prepared in light of the relevant literature, as data collection tools. The collected data were analyzed through content analysis and presented as main and sub-themes. As a result of the research, it has been revealed that disabled individuals perceive disability as a social phenomenon and believe that, with appropriate accessibility measures in place, 13 disability will no longer be a condition that complicates life. It has also been determined that the attitudes of people met in non-governmental organizations, the education received at schools for the visually impaired, and family attitudes play a decisive role in shaping their perspectives on disability. The research findings also indicate that disabled individuals associate accessibility with freedom and independence, find the level of social awareness regarding accessibility to be insufficient, and believe that accessibility conditions in Türkiye need improvement. Furthermore, it has been found that the most significant challenges they encounter in their fight for accessibility are limited resources and the activities of organizations that exploit disability. These findings indicate that public institutions and relevant stakeholders need to exert more effort to improve accessibility conditions in Türkiye and ensure the rights of disabled individuals are protected.