In the European Union (EU), cultural participation is recognised both as a human right and as a key factor in fostering a shared European identity. To promote access to culture, the EU has launched several initiatives, including the European Heritage Label (EHL), which aims to highlight heritage sites of symbolic significance for Europe. This article discusses how accessibility for persons with disabilities features in the EHL. It does so further by outlining the international obligations undertaken by the EU to promote participation in culture and ensure accessibility, particularly under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Drawing on a document analysis of key legal and operational EHL texts, the article demonstrates that accessibility is only partially integrated into the initiative and is weakly prioritised in both the site selection and monitoring processes. While self-reporting by the EHL sites on accessibility has improved in recent years, the measures adopted tend to be limited in scope and depth. Overall, the article calls for a stronger and more systematic integration of accessibility requirements within the EHL framework, as well as for the meaningful involvement of organisations of persons with disabilities in assessing and monitoring the accessibility of EHL sites.
Stefanović et al. (Sat,) studied this question.