In the context of accessibility, access labour refers to the often unpaid or underpaid physical, emotional, intellectual, and logistical work involved in identifying, addressing, and mitigating barriers that prevent disabled individuals from fully participating in activities, events, or spaces. This labour can encompass a wide range of efforts, often falling on the shoulders of disabled people themselves, their allies, or access-focused roles like access doulas.

Access labour is essential for creating environments where disabled individuals can participate equitably. When access labour is properly recognised, valued, and redistributed—such as through paid roles or systemic commitments to accessibility—it shifts the responsibility away from disabled individuals and ensures that access becomes a shared responsibility. This not only alleviates undue burdens but also fosters more equitable and just systems. In new media settings, access labour becomes even more critical as the digital and technological landscape introduces unique barriers, from inaccessible virtual reality interfaces to poorly designed livestream platforms. Ensuring equitable participation in these spaces requires ongoing labour to make technologies responsive to the diverse needs of users. For example, creating sensory-friendly VR experiences, ensuring compatibility with assistive devices, or providing real-time captions during digital events all demand skilled, intentional, and often invisible labour. Redistributing access labour in new media settings involves recognising the expertise of disabled individuals and access professionals, such as access doulas, and integrating their contributions into the foundational design and implementation of technologies. Valuing access labour in these contexts also challenges the pervasive assumption that accessibility is a technical "add-on" rather than an integral aspect of innovation and design. By prioritising access labour as a shared and essential element of new media creation, organisations and creators can build digital spaces that are not only functional but also equitable and participatory.

Key Aspects of Access Labour: 1. Practical Work: Includes tasks like creating captions, preparing accessible documents, arranging interpreters, or setting up ramps and other physical accommodations. 2. Relational Work: Involves building trust and understanding the specific needs of individuals or groups, as well as mediating between those needs and institutional or organisational systems. 3. Emotional Work: Entails advocating for accommodations in systems that may resist or overlook accessibility, which can often involve educating others about the importance of access and navigating ableist attitudes or structures. 4. Intellectual Work: Includes the creative and critical effort required to imagine and implement accessibility solutions in environments or systems that were not originally designed to be inclusive. Who Performs Access Labour? Access labour is often disproportionately undertaken by disabled individuals themselves, who must advocate for and arrange their own accommodations. This can result in an additional burden of emotional and physical effort that is rarely acknowledged or compensated. Allies, accessibility specialists, and roles like access doulas also take on access labour, particularly in contexts where institutions or organisations are committed to centring accessibility as a practice.