In News

Councillors in Watford have backed proposals to add signs to accessible toilets in their council buildings in recognition that not every disability is visible.

Usually, the toilets are marked by an image of a person in a wheelchair, but this doesn’t recognise the needs of people with conditions that aren’t so easily visible.

The Council’s resources and performance cabinet panel backed the proposal for every accessible toilet on council premises to have a Not Every Disability is Visible signage. It was put to the panel after the leader of the Liberal Democrat group Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst tabled a motion at the last meeting of the county council.

The motion suggested that new signs could help to stop the stigma and discrimination towards people with invisible illnesses such as Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and other similar conditions when using accessible toilets. Cllr Giles Medurst stressed that there was a need for publicity and education to run alongside the changes in signage to explain the reasoning behind it.

Speaking about the proposals, Cllr Frances Button raised the point that access to public toilets generally is poor across the county of Hertfordshire, saying: “For me we don’t have enough public toilets in our county. I have been really concerned about the reduction in them. Districts and boroughs and parish councils, can we make sure we have enough public toilets available, suitably marked, for everybody.”

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