"Paris 2024 Paralympics have sparked greater awareness of accessibility challenges"

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00:00Well let's chat more about the Paralympics. We're going to cross over to Sinead Burke,

00:04founder and CEO of Tilting the Lens, an accessibility and inclusion consultancy.

00:09It's great to have you on the programme Sinead. So we're just three days till the end of the 70th

00:14edition of the Paralympics. Give us your assessment of how you think the Games have gone so far.

00:20Well it has been an incredible success. I think, you know, as we've looked to even just from 30,000

00:27feet, over 4,000 athletes have competed, over 2 million tickets have been sold to these events,

00:34which is a 100% increase than what we have seen over the past decade. And if we look at the myriad

00:41of sports and athletes who have been celebrated, and then also look at the bigger and larger wider

00:47impacts of the Paralympics, if we think about greater representation of disabled people

00:52presenting and commentating on the sports, if we think about the number of disabled journalists

00:57that have been writing about the Paralympics over the past number of weeks, and just the ongoing

01:02increase in conversation and awareness around disability and accessibility. And while there is

01:08so much to celebrate as regards to the Paralympics, I do think what it has also provoked is a greater

01:14awareness of the continued challenges in terms of accessibility, whether that is within public

01:19transportation, whether that is in accommodation, whether that is the limited accessibility of

01:25getting around even a city like Paris, for people who are disabled who wanted to come and attend and

01:31watch the events. What it creates is, particularly as we move towards the closing ceremony, an

01:37interrogation for, as we consider the opportunity for disabled people to thrive inside the Paralympics

01:45and beyond, what are the key issues that we really need to solve for? Yes in France, but I would say

01:52globally. The Paralympics could very much have an impact in many areas, as you mentioned there

01:58Sinead. I want to find out what your personal favourite moments have been so far during these

02:03Paralympics. I think, you know, very personally it's been amazing to watch the Irish team of course.

02:11I think seeing Ellen Keane's retirement, she is a Paralympic swimmer and someone who has given

02:17so much to the sport. I often think about that idea of how it takes years, potentially even

02:23decades of commitment, tenacity, dedication for something that will exist in a public forum for

02:3210 seconds, 90 seconds, potentially even less. I think she has been an ambassador for disabled women

02:39and I think alongside not just her legacy in the swimming pool and in the sport, she has really

02:45encouraged broader conversations around employment, design and telling stories through a disability

02:51lens. But I also think about the United States' Ezra Klein who was using TikTok in the most amazing

02:58way in the lead up to the Paralympics. 100 days out he was sharing daily videos saying 100 days

03:05until I win a Paralympic gold and I think almost a surprise to the storytelling but also to him

03:10was that he won that gold medal on day 99 not day 100. I think the stories of the ways

03:17in which this has impacted families and friends, the support structures surrounding these athletes

03:22has been extraordinary. I also think there has been incredibly difficult moments, you know, while

03:27we are celebrating those who are coming home with medals, there are many people who are not coming

03:33home with medals who for whatever reason it did not go their way in their competitions and I think

03:40we need to do some work as a society and thinking about as these athletes come back home, what are

03:46the resources that are in place? You know, many of these athletes, particularly disabled athletes,

03:53spend so much of their early years focused on their training which is absolutely necessary

03:58but often what comes as a risk to that is education and professional development. So,

04:03how are we making sure that the governing bodies are also providing employment opportunities for

04:08these disabled athletes after the Paralympics, after their time as an athlete and I think some

04:14of those connected dots have not yet been joined but I think there has been so much joy. You know,

04:19one of my favourite moments of the Paralympics was watching Channel 4 and seeing so many disabled

04:24presenters on screen, specifically looking at the partnership between Rose Ayling Ellis, a deaf

04:30and Channel 4's first ever live deaf presenter, working alongside Clare Balding and not only was

04:37it informative in terms of the commentary on the sport but it was also incredibly useful for the

04:43audience because they gave us an insight into actually how it was taking place with a number

04:49of interpreters in the audience, with the producer not engaging with Rose as a deaf presenter through

04:54an earpiece but instead using an iPad and more than anything it provided a blueprint and a case

05:00study to ensure that we do not just have deaf representation in presenting at the Paralympics

05:07but it proves to every broadcaster and every deaf person I think that this is possible and

05:12it is an ambition and an expectation that we should have not every four years but every day.

05:19Sinead Burke, founder and CEO of Tilting the Lens, an accessibility and inclusion consultancy. Thank

05:24you so much for joining us on the programme, really appreciate your time.

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