Barrier-free access: Ministry of Culture presents priority projects

During the off-site meeting of the Barrier-Free Council in Borodianka, Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalisation Anastasiia Bondar presented the results of implementing the Communication Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Environment and the Social Change Campaign “Barrier-Free Means You Can”, as well as showcasing the achievements of the Ministry of Culture’s priority projects.

According to the Deputy Minister, the Ministry of Culture’s project “Information Without Barriers” aims to teach the state to communicate with people simply, clearly, and respectfully.

As part of its implementation, the Government has already approved the Communication Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Environment until 2030 and endorsed the operational action plan for 2025–2026. The Ministry held the National Barrier-Free Week, uniting the state, civil society, and business. In addition, over 60,000 participants have completed the educational series “Simply About Complex Things”, and the Government approved a draft law on the accessibility of audiovisual media services for persons with disabilities, ensuring equal access to television, video platforms, and media services.

Anastasiia Bondar highlighted the successful launch of the Social Change Campaign “Barrier-Free Means You Can”, implemented at the initiative of the First Lady Olena Zelenska’s “Without Barriers” together with UNICEF: “Barrier-free access is truly about everyone. The campaign reached over 5.5 million Ukrainians, with 1.7 million viewing the videos. It was supported by ministries, regions, opinion leaders, business, and the public sector.”

Leaders were those who first embraced the idea – the Ministry for Veterans Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The highest engagement came from the Fund for Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities, the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service, the National Police, and the National Commission for Electronic Communications. At the regional level, all regions of Ukraine joined the campaign. Leaders include Zhytomyr, Rivne, Poltava, and Ternopil regions.

The Deputy Minister paid particular attention to the implementation of the priority project “Culture Without Barriers”, which is shaping a new model of open cultural policy. The project involves creating barrier-free cultural spaces and services; introducing international accessibility standards and training cultural institution staff in inclusivity principles.

Among the achievements of 2025: methodological recommendations for cultural institutions on accessibility; the Barrier-Free Map of Cultural Institutions; and the National Study on the Accessibility of Cultural Events.