"This world is not a parallel world," Macron told delegates - who did not include a number of people in electric-powered wheelchairs who had been unable to gain access to their platform to catch the train to Paris for the conference.

"I want this world to end being a world of silence, that people with disabilities be heard, be present and visible everywhere in our society."

He has pledged €1.5 billion (£1.33 billion/$1.65 billion) to improve accessibility, targeting small establishments receiving the public - from restaurants to administrative locales and taxis, train stations and trains, AP reports.

Details, and a timeline, are to be worked out before the summer.

Meanwhile people with disabilities have protested in France by demonstrating how difficult and frustrating it is for them to travel alone by train into Paris, delivering a strong rebuke to what they see as Government inertia before Paris 2024.

In the town of Melun on the outskirts of the French capital, Babou Sene, 31, had to get out of the wheelchair he uses and shuffle with help down and then up two flights of stairs to catch the 11:15 suburban train to Paris' Gare de Lyon, which connects to the only fully accessible Metro line in the future Olympic host city, AP reports.

Other people with disabilities had to stay behind, continuing the protest with placards denouncing limited access to public services.

Their electric-powered wheelchairs were too bulky to be carried to the Paris-bound train platform.

Helpers carried Sene's smaller hand-pushed chair and assisted him on the stairs in navigating the gap between platform and train.

Sene works for APF France Handicap, which lobbies for disabled rights and organised the protest.

It was among the groups invited to the national conference on disabilities being hosted by Macron.

"It's frustrating, really frustrating, not being able to get around," Sene said.

"The feelings are of anger, frustration, revolt and resignation.

"Because in fact, despite the fights undertaken, the impression we have is that we're not listened to, despite all of our efforts."

This month, an arm of the Council of Europe, the continent’s foremost human rights body, found France in violation of a European treaty on social and economic rights, citing multiple failings in meeting the needs of adults and children with disabilities.

The looming deadlines of the Olympics - from July 26 to August 11, 2024 - and the Paralympics - from August 28 to September 8 - have intensified the pressure for improvements to be made.