Access Friendly is a project coordinated by Maria-José Anía and formed by a network of professionals, businesses and organisations that all share a firm commitment to accessibility and inclusion.

With solid experience and a proven track record in the field of communication and tourism in Barcelona, I first came into contact with the field of disability in 2003 and started to look at what was being done in Europe and the rest of the world to make culture accessible to the blind and visually impaired.

The creation of the business ComAccess – Comunicación Accesible has allowed me to experience the accessibility of our heritage sites and to make inroads into improving it.

Today, the commitment of organisations such as Turisme de Barcelona, the Institut de Cultura, and the Institut Municipal de Persones amb Discapacitat to disability issues, encourages us in the task of providing universal access to information and culture.

  

Previous experience:

· 2005-2012.  Founder member of the company ComAccess, a pioneer in improving accessibility in the fields of information, art and culture.

· 2001-2005.  Journalist, editor and freelance tour guide.

· 1997-2001.  Director of the BGB-Barcelona Guide Bureau.

· 1984-1994.  Turisme de Barcelona, several positions.

 

Background:

· Degree in Journalism (UPF) and Translation (UAB).

· Official tour guide (Turisme de Catalunya)

· Ongoing training in: audio description, heritage interpretation, accessible tourism, cultural management, corporate communication, among others.

 

Member of:

· Col·legi de Periodistes de Catalunya (Association of Journalists)

· ENAT - European Network of Accessible Tourism

· ACIC - Associació Catalana per a la Integració del Cec (Association for the Integration of the Blind)

· Associació Lectura Fàcil (Easy Reading Association)

 

Associate of:

· Apsocecat - Associació Catalana Pro Persones amb Sordecguesa (Association for deaf-blind people).

· ACCDV - Associació Catalana de Persones Cegues i amb Discapacitat Visual (Association for the blind & visually impaired).

· AxD - Assemblea per la Diversitat.