Lets make design for the 2012 games accessible to all

Bloody RNIB guidelines! Richard Williams’s Sounding Off (DW 26 June) was read with great interest at RNIB. We are delighted to know that organisers of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are taking accessibility so seriously.

We were unaware that the committee was using RNIB’s guidelines, and cannot comment on how the guidelines were used or why Mr Williams’s application may have been rejected. However, we are pleased that accessible design is part of the selection criteria.

We aren’t so delighted with the impression that this is a bit of a bore. London 2012’s ambition is to ‘create a games for everyone, where everyone is invited to take part’. This includes accessible design. It’s the same participative approach as the games has – and a commitment to it will say something about the UK.

Following the approach of the London 2012 organisers, perhaps this is an opportunity for design teams ‘to try new things and reassess what [they] are all capable of’ too.

Katherin Ekstrom, Publishing manager, RNIB, London WC1