Barrier-Free Handbook

The Scientific and Technical Library received a gift — a printed version of the «Barrier-Free Handbook». This publication is useful for organizing the Information and Resource Center «Without Barriers» work and will enrich library readers with knowledge. A large team of specialists worked on it - people whose experience and knowledge made it possible to describe actions in various difficult life situations.

The publication of the Handbook is a story that happened DESPITE and THANKS TO: in spite of the full-scale war and thanks to people, partners, for whom barrier-free issues always remains in focus.

«Barrier-free Handbook» is a symbol of irreversibility of changes in social relations.

«Barrier-Free Handbook» is an initiative and flagship project of the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska (https://www.facebook.com/olenazelenska.official). It was created in cooperation with public organizations, human rights defenders, psychologists, parents raising children with disabilities, Ukrainian and international experts. Analytical and technical support for the project was provided by the public organization «Bezbariernist» (https://www.facebook.com/bbu.org.ua). The editor of the guide is Tetyana Kasyan, the illustrator is Olha Dehtyareva.

The printed version of «Barrier-Free Handbook» is a unique multi-format publication in terms of form and quality of execution that you can not only read, but also touch:

• with Braille font,
• engravable embossing,
• QR-codes for translation into Ukrainian sign language.

From the beginning of the work on the creation of «Barrier-Free Handbook», it was intended that the the printed edition presentation would take place at the International Book Arsenal Festival in May 2022 in Kyiv. Thus, a week before the start of the full-scale war, it was agreed with the publishing house in Kharkiv to transfer the book to print.

However, due to the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine in February 24, this did not happen. In the first days, Kharkiv was in an active war zone, the publishing house lost the opportunity to work. The plans to print the book had to be changed, but not canceled.

And for the first time it was presented by Olena Zelenska at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2022. DTEK Group, Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv, Yakaboo book platform, Oschadbank, World Health Organization Ukraine, and 1st publishing were partners of the printed version of the Guide.

The First Lady of Ukraine spoke about the project in an interview with Brigitte, the most popular women's magazine in Germany, which has been published since 1886 with a circulation of 800,000 copies. The First Lady noted that the barrier-free topic became important for Ukraine even before the Russian invasion. «We determined for ourselves a long time ago that the most important thing in the state is a person. The philosophy of the state should be people-centeredness. In addition, for this, a person must be given all the opportunities. It was my job to facilitate these opportunities. Barrier-free environment is not only physical barriers, but also psychological barriers, prejudices, economic inequality, such as unequal pay. We fought against all these obstacles: we created a friendly space, we sought equal pay and employment for everyone, regardless of gender and physical condition, we fought against prejudice and violence - physical and psychological,» said Olena Zelenska.

At the same time, The First Lady emphasized, with the Russian invasion, the barrier-free issue has gained even greater relevance and new meaning. «Because aggression has created even more barriers. Even more physical barriers, because every day more and more adults and children are injured by shelling, lose arms and legs. Even more mental barriers, because today almost every Ukrainian is under stress due to the war. Even more economic barriers, because people are losing their homes, jobs, and businesses. But we are not Russia. We want our people to have all the opportunities, to be healthy. Our principle is that the person is at the center of everything. We send people for prosthetics and create a national mental health program so that everyone can get the relevant services when they need them. We are rebuilding the country so that after our victory, people will have better opportunities» said Olena Zelenska.

Electronic «Barrier-Free Handbook» 

The guide to barrier-free communication — «Handbook of Barrier-Free» appeared in September 2021 in electronic format. It explains in an accessible way why you can't limit yourself to ramps if you want to live in a barrier-free world, and also why the language of communication is very important.

«Our communication contains a lot more meanings than we might assume. This barrier-free handbook will help uncover new, previously hidden meanings, that put the focus on people. And this will be the first step towards creating new communication ethics,” emphasized Olena Zelenska during the presentation of the electronic version of the Handbook.

«Barrier-Free Handbook» is an open source project: its electronic version is regularly enriched with new relevant information.  And work on filling the handbook with useful information continues.

The guide «speaks» in Ukrainian sign language. There is an active widget next to each publication — a blue circle with the image of hands inside. By clicking on it, a window with a translator opens. For the visitors of the Directory with visual impairments, an audio description of each publication has been made.

The Electronic Handbook consists of sections, including: «Components of Barrier-free», «Language rules», «Vocabulary» and «Barrier-free calendar». After a full-scale invasion, the Handbook was added with a special section «In Wartime» and, somewhat later, with a section «Ethics of Interaction in Times of Stress».

«Components of barrier-free». The chapter, in a simple and accessible language, reveals a number of concepts related to the topic of barrier-freeness, or involved in it. In particular, what are stereotypes, inclusion, involvement, the non-discrimination principle, tolerance, acceptance, accessibility, diversity, gender equality, social rejection, universal design, etc.

The Rules of Barrier-free Language. The section presents and explains the principles of barrier-free language — a language in which there are no words or phrases that demonstrate a prejudiced, stereotypical or discriminatory attitude towards a person.

From the «Vocabulary» section, you can find out whether it is correct to use certain words in relation to different people.

«Barrier-free calendar» reminds us about important dates, significant and memorable days that are worth paying attention to, why they are introduced, how they should be celebrated, and when greetings are inappropriate.

The special section «In Wartime» contains tips and instructions that are relevant now for the most vulnerable categories of the population — families with children, elderly people and their loved ones, people with disabilities.

«Ethics of interaction in times of stress» is another special section that includes techniques for self-help and caring support of those around. It contains answers the question of how to recognize stress in yourself and those around you; how to cope with stress with the help of breathing; how to get rid of tension in the body; how to teach others to help themselves; how to listen to support a person.