Pathway 1 of 6

Pathway 1: What About Curb Cuts?

Learn why accessibility matters for everyone.

By Beth Stark, M.S.Ed., CPACC

Also available as: PDF of What About Curb Cuts? (4 pages, 149 KB)

These resources share the voices of people with disabilities. They describe why accessibility matters and what is lost when we do not treat it as a human right. The principle at the centre of all of them is:

The goal of curb cuts is not to benefit everyone. The goal is equity and inclusion for the people being denied access. The wider benefits are a consequence of working towards that goal. Let's continue this work together.

A note on geography: many of the resources here come from the United States, and others come from Australia, Canada, Europe and international organisations. Each one has been checked. Laws, school systems and everyday terms differ from place to place, so adapt the ideas to your own culture, community and context. Where a resource depends on one country's laws or school system, its description says so.

A. What Accessibility Really Means

Before any practical tool, start with what accessibility means to disabled people. Each of these three resources asks what authentic accessibility feels like.

The Curb-Cut Effect and Championing Equity (opens in a new tab)

Learning for Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center

This article is written specifically for educators about the history of curb cuts and what they teach us about equity. It tells the story of Ed Roberts and the Rolling Quads, who fought for the first curb cuts in Berkeley, California, and explains why designing for those being denied access always produces wider benefits. It argues for building accessible learning environments from the start instead of retrofitting them. A note on authorship: this article is not written by a disabled person. It centres disability-led activism.

Access Is Love (opens in a new tab)

Mia Mingus, Sandy Ho, and Alice Wong

Three disabled Asian-American women created this framework and resource hub. It argues that accessibility is an act of love and a shared community responsibility. It includes ten concrete ways to start creating access and a reading list on disability justice. It is a good starting point for educators who want to change how their school or team thinks and talks about accessibility.

Access Intimacy: The Missing Link (opens in a new tab)

Mia Mingus, Leaving Evidence

This essay, written by disabled activist Mia Mingus, introduces the concept of access intimacy: the rare feeling when someone understands your access needs without you having to explain or justify them. It names the difference between accessibility that is technically present and accessibility that is felt. It helps educators understand why compliance alone does not create belonging.

B. Disability Voices for Learning Communities

Disability is rarely present in curriculum through the words of disabled people themselves. These three ongoing, disability-led projects, and the perspectives and stories in them, can help bring about change.

Disability Visibility Project: DVP Interviews (opens in a new tab)

A no-cost, growing archive of oral history interviews with disabled people across the United States, recorded in partnership with StoryCorps, covering disability arts, identity, community, activism, parenting, journalism, and everyday life. Founded in 2014 by Alice Wong (1974-2025), a Chinese-American disability activist, writer, and 2024 MacArthur Fellow. Alice died on November 14, 2025. The project continues in her memory and all content remains available at no cost. For educators, this archive is one of the most direct ways to bring authentic disabled voices into a classroom or community.

Disability Debrief (opens in a new tab)

A no-cost weekly newsletter covering disability news, policy, culture, and activism from over 170 countries, edited by disabled journalist Peter Torres Fremlin and written by disabled and non-disabled contributors. It helps educators keep up with how disability is understood around the world. It is also an example of what disability-led media looks and sounds like.

The Accessible Stall (opens in a new tab)

A long-running podcast in which two disabled friends, Kyle Khachadurian and Emily Ladau, talk candidly about disability, from identity and access to representation and everyday life. The hosts do not always agree, a useful reminder for educators that disabled people are not a single voice. Episodes are conversational and many are transcribed. They work well as discussion starters with staff or older students.

C. Representation, Framing, and How We Talk About Disability

How disability is portrayed shapes what students come to believe about disabled people and about themselves. This applies to film and television. It also applies to classrooms, curriculum materials, and the language we use every day as educators.

I'm Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much (opens in a new tab)

Stella Young, TEDxSydney

A nine-minute talk by disabled Australian comedian and journalist Stella Young that names and dismantles inspiration porn: the way disabled people are turned into motivational objects for non-disabled people, praised simply for doing ordinary things. Sadly, Young died shortly after filming at age 32. Her talk has been viewed over four million times. It is a direct way to open a classroom or staff conversation about how framing shapes our beliefs and values.

Rooted in Rights (opens in a new tab)

Disability Rights Washington

A no-cost, fully accessible media platform created by a team of disabled media makers, producing video, documentary, and written content by and for the disability community. Every video includes captions, audio description, image descriptions, and transcripts. It offers classroom content. It also shows disabled people telling their own stories instead of having stories told about them.

Disability Representation in the Media (opens in a new tab)

Purple Goat Agency (UK)

A no-cost guide from Purple Goat, a UK-based disability-led agency, on what authentic disability representation looks like in media and why it matters. It shares how disabled people are too often reduced to their disability, portrayed as objects of pity or inspirational exceptions, and what good representation looks like instead. Educators can use it to ask whether disabled students in their own classrooms are seen and valued as whole people.