but positive measures as well. Currently, more than 500,000 people in Austria need full-time care. Care allowances are meant to contribute to the ability to lead as self-determined a life as possible. As they are not adjusted for inflation, care allowances are increasingly not fulfilling this purpose. For some time, the AOB has been demanding adjustment of the care allowance that is guaranteed under the law, in order to give those affected greater equality. Clear rules for personal assistance The AOB also finds that legal certainty is lacking in the area of personal assistance. Financial support for those affected is currently often a question of good will. Under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, for example, children and adolescents may not be excluded from the general educational system due to a disability. Therefore, the AOB welcomes the acceleration of inclusive education that is provided for in the draft of the National Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities. However, the procedures for a successful and sensible integration must be made more concrete and more comprehensive. Entitlement to the removal of barriers Another important step would be the entitlement to the removal of barriers, suspension of discrimination and/or fulfilment of equal treatment obligations. Currently, persons with disabilities can demand compensation for damages but not the creation of an environment that is free of discrimination. Barrier-free construction This is specifically, but not exclusively inadequate, because people have been aware of the problems arising from insufficient structural accessibility or the absence of structural accessibility for a long time. The societal attitude shift and the demographic development are changing the demands with regard to constructed space. As defined by the Federal Disability Equality Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, constructed space should be accessible and usable for everyone in the generally customary way, without particular difficulty and without assistance. Accessible planning and construction is no longer limited solely to impaired motor skills (and has not been for a long time), but it also includes sensory perception, cognition and anthropometry. The challenge confronting modern architecture is to embrace and make room for social diversity. This is precisely where creativity is needed – creativity that uses its theoretical knowledge to develop new spatial and technical solutions. The focus should be on recognising the needs of the various user groups, analysing them and integrating them into both the early conceptual planning phase and the detailed plans. As the primary basis of any planning, the well-founded understanding of the subject and current 64