Three inclusive routes to the Holy Door: “Accessibility is dignity for all”

“Accessibility is not a favour or an optional extra. It is a right. And it is the right way to design the present and the future.” Camilla Capitani, who is visually impaired and an expert in cultural accessibility, repeats this with the calm and determination of someone well-versed in the matter. Yesterday, three new inclusive routes towards the Holy Door were inaugurated: a project designed to make the Jubilee more accessible to all, regardless of physical, sensory, cognitive, age-related, or linguistic characteristics. The routes start from Piazza del Risorgimento, Piazza Pia, and Piazza Sant’Uffizio and are equipped with informational materials in different languages: text, audio, video, Easy-to-Read, Italian Sign Language and International Sign Language, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication using pictograms. All materials can be accessed via QR codes, with videos available in Italian and English, synchronised subtitles, and sign language.

Experience and inclusive design

“I worked on the project with the team of experts, bringing my experience in accessibility for visual impairments,” explains Capitani, “contributing to the creation of tactile maps with Braille indications and QR codes, and to the assessment of the walkable footprints guiding pilgrims to the Basilica.” The footprints, clear and easily identifiable, bear the colours of the Jubilee of Hope logo to represent human diversity. They are placed on the ground every 5 metres, alternating left and right, to accompany each step of those wishing to reach Saint Peter’s. According to Capitani, inclusion goes far beyond disability:

“Accessibility benefits everyone. If a person with low vision finds a tactile map or a route marked with colour contrasts useful, the same is true for someone who has simply forgotten their glasses that day. Inclusive communication makes life easier for all.”

A right for all, not an option

The project, strongly supported by the Government’s Extraordinary Commissioner for the Jubilee of the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for Evangelisation, and the Civil Protection of Rome Capital, saw the contribution of experts such as Dino Angelaccio, Miriam Mandosi, Carlo D’Aloisio, and Odette Mbuyi, under the supervision of Sister Veronica Donatello, head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference National Office for the Pastoral Care of Persons with Disabilities and consultant to the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See. “This project is a starting point,” Capitani emphasises, “but the objective must be broader:

every major event, every public initiative or project must think about accessibility from the outset, excluding no one.

That is the message we wish to convey.” On the official Jubilee website PDF guides are available in Easy-to-Read Italian and English, and in AAC. Visual-tactile and talking maps, highly legible fonts, Braille writings, videos with subtitles and sign language: every detail has been designed to leave no one behind. “And we hope,” Capitani concludes, “that this message was conveyed through yesterday’s inauguration. Because building accessible routes means building routes of dignity, for everyone.”