However, not being doves is no excuse—what are we waiting for? Nowadays, in 2023, visually impaired people can't enjoy the Westerns aired every noon on ETB. People with disabilities only make up 1% (if they're lucky) of all nationally broadcasted advertisements, and a person with autism spectrum disorder and hypersensitivity to sound and light wouldn't be able to enjoy a Fito and Fitipaldis concert.

Nevertheless, they say Rome wasn't built in a day, and we can say that, even if it's slowly, the stones that make up this beautiful city are being laid. In other words, involving people with disabilities through various media is being attempted.

CLASSIC AND NEW TELEVISION

If you're okay with it, let's start by talking about a medium that is now considered traditional: television. Although it's a medium losing a lot of audience (Barlovento Comunicación says the number of hours we spend in front of the TV is an hour and a half, the lowest since 1992), if we look at the legislation, it's more accessible than ever for people with hearing and visual impairments. The General Law on Audiovisual Communication dictates that 90% of the content offered by public channels must be accompanied by subtitles, while the figure for national and regional channels is 75%. Additionally, the content broadcast on any channel must have 10 hours of self-description per week and 2 hours of sign language.

However, in many cases, even if the content is adapted as we just mentioned, it's not suitable for everyone. The NGO Facilito identified that users with intellectual disabilities may encounter many barriers when consuming this type of content. To address this, they decided to create a television adapted for this audience: through a website (accompanied by YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram), they offer entertaining, adapted, and educational programs for anyone who needs them.

In recent years, various media have also started to carve out their niche among the traditional ones. Twitch is one of them. This platform experienced a stratospheric boom due to the pandemic, as it was very accessible for anyone who wanted to create content. On the New Year's Eve of 2022, Ibai Llanos did something that no traditional TV dared to do: have a sign language interpreter. This action, acclaimed on social media, featured Ramón García and Anne Igartiburu (Aupa Bilbo) and gathered more than half a million people (although the average was 170,000 viewers). Makes you think, doesn't it?

EVERYTHING SOCIAL MEDIA OFFERS

Social media also has a say in this matter, as in general, all the videos we see on various platforms have automatic subtitles, and most images are accompanied by a button that says ALT to offer their description. Although the latter is an extra task (you won't break a sweat describing an image you just uploaded), it's highly recommended to help people with visual impairments, as screen readers can describe the image for them.

In addition to these tools, one of the best things social media gives us is representation. Despite the influencer phenomenon causing many headaches with all those breakfast and newly purchased clothing photos, it also has its good and important side. Inazio Nieva, who defines himself as a "disability advocate," works to provide that representation. Besides uploading photos of his daily life, he answers questions (often about cerebral palsy), shares thoughts running through his head, tells stories, and engages in activism. Inazio is not alone: Cisco Garve, Marta Bustos, or Patrifashion are other people who have decided to use their platform for good. You should check out their profiles a bit!

MOVIES AND TV SERIES, THE PILLARS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

When we talk about representation, we can't leave behind two pillars of our society: movies and TV series. One of the most famous movies in the world, for example, features a person with a disability.

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get,"

does that phrase ring a bell? Surely it does, we're talking about Forrest Gump, a character with an intellectual disability who overcomes all barriers created by society.

Over the years, we see more and more stories related to people with disabilities, with them being the protagonists. Special (Netflix, 2019), for example, is about the life of Ryan, a young gay man living with cerebral palsy. Its creator and star is Ryan O'Connell, who created the character based on his real-life experiences. In the movie CODA (2021), the protagonist is the only hearing person throughout the entire film, and it also earned Troy Kotsur an Oscar, making him the first person with a hearing impairment to achieve this. Even the biggest blockbuster in cinema, Marvel, introduced a superhero with a hearing impairment in its stories: Makkari, an Eternal (2021) played by Lauren Ridloff.

Even if they're not the main characters, we can find many examples, such as the one presented in Toy Story 4 (2019). In this movie, a child playing in the daycare is shown wearing a cochlear implant. Although it's a small example, it sparked a lot of discussion, to the point where several children saw themselves reflected on the big screen for the first time.

Although representation is crucial, if people in front of the screens can't enjoy what they "see," it's not really worth much. This is precisely what some projects like La Barraca de Cine advocate for. Their goal is to bring cinema to everyone and make small towns the center of culture again. Just like in Cinema Paradiso (1988), they want cinema to be for anyone who enjoys being in front of a screen. People attending the sessions will have subtitles and self-descriptions using their own mobile phones. In some screenings, they even have a sign language interpreter.

MUSIC AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP DANCING

Now that we're knee-deep in entertainment, we should also talk about music, don't you think? Do you know how someone who doesn't have the ability to hear can listen to music?

The Music For All foundation fights for making all concerts accessible. For people with hearing disabilities, for example, they have vests that vibrate to the rhythm of the music. Instead of hearing it, they feel it. For those who use hearing aids, they use loop systems, which eliminate noise and allow them to hear the music without distractions and at the right volume. They also usually have someone interpreting in sign language on stage, and this person is usually responsible for conveying the song lyrics and interpreting what the artist is saying. Rozalén also does this; a coincidence brought the artist and interpreter Beatriz Romero together in 2011, and after singing a song together, a relationship was created that they say will last a lifetime. How beautiful.

MUSEUMS, OUR PRIDE

To finish, let's talk about another great pillar of our culture: museums. We are very proud to have among us the first museum to remove barriers (visual, auditory, and architectural) for people with disabilities, the Guggenheim Museum. In 2003, AENOR accredited this museum with the achievement of being accessible to people with disabilities.

The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum has also contributed with its initiative called "Art to Touch." For someone who doesn't have the possibility of seeing, understanding a work of art can be very difficult, that's clear. It's also clear that no one can go visit El Greco's Annunciation and touch it with their hands. For that reason, the museum created copies of its works so that everyone could enjoy even the tiniest brushstrokes with their own hands.

After seeing these cases that make us regain a bit of faith in humanity, we can say that, even though we might be crows at the moment, we are in the process of becoming doves. If we realize the needs of the people around us, give voice to their needs, and involve them in the reorganization process, we will start to leave behind the dark color of the crow to begin to see those wings that, in the future, will help us fly fast and well. Finally.