Universal access

Universal access is provided in Curitiba's public transport system. Brazil.

Universal access refers to the ability of all people to have equal opportunity and access to a service or product from which they can benefit, regardless of their social class, ethnicity, background or physical disabilities. It is a vision, and is some cases a legal term, that spans many fields, including education, disability, telecommunications, and healthcare. It is tied strongly to the concept of human rights.

In many developed countries an infrastructure exists to help implement the vision. Examples include access to education at the grade school, high school and sometimes college level; disability-related laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 in the United States; universal access policies and funding that support for telecommunications infrastructure to underserved rural and inner city areas such as high bandwidth lines to local government and healthcare buildings in small towns; and universal access to healthcare in some countries, especially in Europe, Canada and Japan.

See also

• Universal access to education
• Accessibility
• Universal Service Fund (Telecommunications)