Munich's district administration department expands accessibility measures for people with disabilities

Munich's district administration department, the Kreisverwaltungsreferat (KVR), has drawn up further measures to make its services more accessible to people with disabilities. The city council called for the steps in a resolution passed in 2023.

More service descriptions on the KVR website, such as how to report a lost item to the lost property office, will be published in Easy Read language to help people with learning difficulties. The same will apply to printed material, including civil protection leaflets and information sheets for households affected by fire. In its online communication, the department will add alternative text to images and subtitles to videos so that blind and deaf people can access the content.

The fire department is also offering accessible information events on civil protection. These include fire safety education for children with disabilities and tours of the fire brigade exhibition for deaf people. First aid courses have been adapted for deaf members of staff.

Because of the city's budget situation, the KVR has ensured that all the measures can be introduced gradually using existing staff and the department's current budget. A central inclusion contact will coordinate the work, encouraging exchange between the specialist divisions and monitoring how the measures are put into practice.

Mayor Mona Fuchs said: "Munich is a diverse and open city in which people with very different needs live. Our aim must be that everyone can take part in society on an equal footing. That includes consistently removing the hurdles and barriers that make everyday life harder. People with disabilities must also be able to deal with their matters at the city as independently as possible and without unnecessary obstacles." She added that the measures made a concrete contribution to this.

Dr Hanna Sammüller, head of the KVR, said the aim was to make the department's services accessible to everyone in Munich, whether or not they have a disability. "I am pleased that, despite the tight budget situation, we have found a way to publish more service descriptions in Easy Read language in future and to offer the fire department's potentially life-saving information in an accessible form," she said.