Our next kōrero shines a light on the everyday barriers that continue to exclude disabled people and their whānau from equitable access to goods and services in Aotearoa.
Access to goods and services should be simple, dignified, and reliable — whether that’s buying groceries online, accessing essential equipment, using transport, or engaging with everyday services. Yet for many disabled people, these interactions are instead defined by inaccessibility, additional costs, and constant negotiation. Despite progress in awareness and policy, significant systemic barriers remain, including:
Inaccessible design:
Products, services, and digital platforms are often designed without disabled people in mind, creating barriers across retail, packaging, events, and online shopping.
Digital exclusion:
As services increasingly move online, inaccessible websites, apps, and booking systems exclude people who are blind or low vision, have cognitive or dexterity impairments, or rely on assistive technologies.
Additional costs of disability:
Disabled people are frequently required to pay more for accessible options, delivery, support, or modifications — effectively being penalised for needing equal access.
Fragmented responsibility:
No single agency holds accountability for access to goods and services, leaving disabled people to self-advocate, educate providers, and navigate complaint processes that are often slow and ineffective.
Attitudinal barriers:
Ableism, low expectations, and assumptions about capability continue to shape service delivery, leading to dismissive responses, lack of reasonable accommodations, and erosion of dignity.
Exclusion from design and decision-making:
Disabled people and carers are too often consulted too late — or not at all — resulting in systems, products, and services that fail to meet real-world needs and undermine Enabling Good Lives principles.
For access to be truly equitable, goods and services must be designed inclusively from the outset, be affordable and flexible, and reflect the diversity of disabled people’s lives. Accessibility should not be a “special feature” — it is fundamental to participation, independence, and belonging.
Whether you’re a policymaker, service provider, designer, retailer, advocate, or community member, this session will explore how we can move beyond minimum compliance toward meaningful, lived access across goods and services in Aotearoa.
Join us for this important kōrero as we reimagine systems that enable disabled people and their whānau to participate fully in everyday life — not by exception, but by design.
Date: 25 February 2026
Time: 9 am to 12 pm
Where: via Zoom
Master of Ceremonies: TBA
Speakers: TBA
Moderators: TBA
Registration: via Zoom
Attending: Anyone who wants to gain insights, share experiences, and be part of the movement toward improved access to goods and services in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Programme: TBA
Contact: Kimberly Graham via [email protected]