Peru: When an Accessibility Law Creates New Barriers

• Peru's new Law No. 32724, which amends the General Law on Persons with Disabilities, aims to improve accessibility for the deaf community but faces significant criticism for creating new barriers.
• The law mandates certified sign language interpretation without the government having established the necessary national training or accreditation systems.
• Stakeholders, including organizations of deaf people and interpreter associations, were not adequately consulted during the drafting process.

Core Issues

• Lack of Certification Infrastructure: Professionals are required to be certified, yet the state has not developed the mechanisms to provide this certification, potentially disqualifying current, competent interpreters.
• Technical Inadequacy: The law fails to account for the professional linguistic nature of interpretation, focusing instead on simple visual resources without setting standards for resolution, lighting, or placement.
• Insufficient Sign Language Window: The mandated box size for interpreters is criticized for being too small to convey essential linguistic components like facial expressions and body language.
• Cultural Erasure: The regulation uses the term "people with hearing disabilities" rather than acknowledging the Deaf community's unique linguistic and cultural identity.

Implications

• The law threatens to disrupt current access to information in news and emergencies by creating a legal void.
• Implementation deadlines are too tight to allow for a comprehensive, participatory public consultation process.
• Policy design must prioritize collaboration with disability advocates to ensure regulations are technically sound, legally viable, and truly inclusive.