About one million Kiwis today have an access need, from physical and age-related impairments to vision and hearing loss.
However, New Zealand doesn't do well to cater for them.
One woman, who is legally blind, wants to change that. She wants New Zealand to become the most accessible country in the world.
Leaning in, squinting, it's the only clue that entrepreneur Minnie Baragwanath has any problems with her eyesight, but in fact, she's legally blind.
"Well, if I were to look directly at you, I think I'm looking directly at you now, your whole face is now gone," Baragwanath said.
She started losing her sight when she was just 14 years old.
"That summer my dad took me for my first driving lesson and I drove right through a pedestrian crossing, luckily no one was on the crossing," she said. "Both of us at that moment clocked the fact that okay that something was going on with my eyesight."
Baragwanath was eventually diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a progressive sight disorder which is common in older people.
"I have the juvenile form, which is quite rare, it's congenital, both my parents carry the gene.
"I have three brothers, none of them have it. I call it the highly sexist gene," she joked.
Despite her failing sight and with her humour intact, Baragwanath graduated from university, travelled the world, ran the New York marathon, became a council disability advisor, and set up a business called Be Accessible, which helps to raise awareness for those with access or impairment issues.
She was determined, and was rewarded with a New Zealand Order of Merit, the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award and she was even a top 10 finalist for New Zealander of the Year.
Now she's written a book, called Blindingly Obvious, aimed at changing our views of what disability means.
"I need to honestly bravely share my experience of growing up blind in New Zealand, where we are doing well, where we are not doing well," she said.
Ironically, she can't read her own book, but she's made an audio version and it's the first full non-fiction book to be translated into sign language. Braille and te reo Māori versions will also be available.
"For me there is no option but to model accessibility. My hope is in the next 12 months this book will be available all around the world, in tens or hundreds of different formats."
The book came to her on her deathbed, and she's been there twice. The first time was when Baragwanath turned 45.
She was sent a medical reminder letter, which she couldn't read, telling her to get a mammogram.
Thankfully, an assistant opened the letter and alerted her to it. She was booked in and then diagnosed with breast cancer. She was devastated and then Baragwanath delivered another blow.
"The first thing the specialist gave me was a folder, filled with all the critical information you need to know as a woman with breast cancer, I couldn't read any of it," she said.
"I remember them handing this folder with the feeling of absolute despair and disbelief, how am I going to do this?" she asked. She told Newshub that no audio file was available with the provided information.
Post-surgery, Baragwanath then suffered from an infection, a collapsed lung, pneumonia, and blood clots.
"So the fact that I hadn't died was an absolute miracle," she said.
She was prescribed eight different medications, however, again, there was an issue.
"I couldn't read any of my pills, I couldn't read the amount I had to take. You get your medication wrong, at best you get very sick or at worst you end up dead," she said.
It then happened again in 2020, when Baragwanath had a heart attack in lockdown.
She was 50, legally blind, in hospital, alone and now questioning life.
"Has my work and social change made the slightest bit of difference? Have we actually improved anything for anyone?" she asked, in tears. "Why at this point, sorry, why is it still so hard?"
This is the mental toll. It's tough. Despite her work and age, her sight meant she was still struggling with everyday tasks, such as paying bills, accessing the health system and shopping in stores.
She believes New Zealand barely caters for her community.
"Right now, the access community has probably the highest rate of suicide, of mental health of any community," she said.
So, Baragwanath wrote her book and she wants New Zealand to be with her community, which makes up about 20 percent of our population.
No patronising, just respect, because accessibility matters.
