2023년 12월 문화체육관광부 내에 ‘장애인문화예술과’가 설립되고, 「문화예술진흥법」 시행령 개정으로 국공립 공연장·전시장의 장애예술 관련 의무가 명시되면서 ‘접근성’ 및 ‘접근성 매니저’에 관한 관심이 높아지고 있다. 우리나라에서는 2010년대 후반부터 ‘접근성 매니저’라는 직함을 달고 활동하는 기획자, 연출가들이 처음 등장했고, 2020년대에 들어서는 장애인문화예술원을 필두로 극장, 박물관 등에서 ‘접근성’ 관련 공연과 전시, 교육 프로그램이 속속 도입되었다. 하지만 아직까지 국내에서는 접근성 매니저에 관한 본격적인 연구가 이루어진 적이 없다. 이러한 상황에서 본 연구는 해외 주요국의 사례를 바탕으로 ‘접근성 매니저의 직무’를 구체적으로 분석하고 체계적으로 정리하려는 목적을 갖는다. 이를 위해서 영국, 호주, 캐나다, 미국, 프랑스, 일본 등 해외 주요국을 공간적 범위로 설정하고, 2024년 7~8월 두 달간 ‘접근성 매니저’ 채용 공고를 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 접근성 매니저는 접근성 기획 관리자, 접근성 교육 전문가, 접근성 기술 지원 전문가라는 세 가지 직무를 중심으로 직업이 구성되어 있다는 사실을 확인하였는바, 이는 향후 접근성 매니저 직무를 중심으로 한 정책 사업 추진에 유의미한 준거점을 제공할 것으로 기대된다.
In December 2023, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism established the ‘Division of Disability Culture and Arts,’ and with the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the “Culture and Arts Promotion Act,” it was made mandatory for national and public performance venues and exhibition halls to hold at least one performance or exhibition of disability arts annually. As a result, there has been increasing interest in ‘access or accessibility’ and ‘access managers’ within the domestic cultural and arts ecosystem. The first appearance of producers and directors working under the title of ‘access manager’ in Korea can be traced back to the late 2010s. Their voluntarily initiated work received significant support, resonating with the evolving concepts of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and inclusive design at the time. Consequently, from the 2020s, educational and workshop programs related to access and accessibility began to be introduced at institutions such as the I-Eum Academy of Korea Disability Arts & Culture Center, ARKO Arts Theater, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. In this context, the Korea Employment Information Service (2023), through its report 〈2023 New Occupation Research through Comparative Analysis of Domestic and International Occupations〉 identified ‘access manager’ as a representative emerging occupation in the field of culture and arts. However, comprehensive research on access or accessibility managers in Korea has yet to be conducted. Based on this awareness, this study aims to systematically analyze and organize the roles of access managers, drawing on case studies from some advanced countries abroad. To this end, the study focuses on the UK, US, Canada, Australia, France, and Japan as the spatial scope and analyzes ‘access manager’ job postings on international job platforms such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and websites of accessibility-related organizations during July and August 2024. The analysis revealed that the occupation of access manager comprises three primary roles: access/accessibility planning manager, access/accessibility education expert, and access/accessibility technical support specialist. This finding is expected to provide a meaningful reference point for future policy initiatives centered around the roles of access/accessibility managers in South Korea.