Category: accessibility
Stupid access tricks
We went to see our lawyer today. Apparently the landlord of his building decided to make the building accessible.
They built a nice ramp up the curb:
Then they built a nice ramp from the sidewalk to the building doors:
Then they found out that an elevator inside the building was going to cost $60,000, so here’s what [...]
Overstream - caption your videos!
Overstream allows you to caption YouTube, Google Video, MySpace Video, Dailymotion, Veoh and Megavideo videos:
Quick and Easy
The only thing interesting about this post is that it happens rarely enough to be worth writing about.
I went to Ace Hardware today. They had a display of annuals in the crosshatched space next to a handicapped parking permit spot. I went in, I asked for a manager. I walked out of the store with [...]
Why it takes so long to plan a trip
Last time it was Hawaii, this time it’s Italy.
The hotel claims 2 accessible rooms.
My inquiry:
Please send me information on your rooms that are suitable for the disabled:
Room number?
Rate in late October, 2008?
Steps at hotel entrance?
How many?
How high?
Width of entrance door?
Elevator?
Width of elevator door?
Length of elevator?
Width of room door?
Distance between bed and wall?
Height of bed?
Width of [...]
India - Guide Dogs Allowed to Fly
The aviation ministry has approved the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) new rules allowing dogs to fly. But don’t worry about dogfights in the air. The new rule applies only to those canines guiding humans “with disability and/or reduced mobility”.
I like the “don’t worry” part (yes, that’s sarcasm). Full story at Guide Dogs Allowed [...]
Air New Zealand Says “No”
A Christchurch tetraplegic is being forced to pay thousands of dollars for an in-flight carer because Air New Zealand staff cannot help him into his seat.
Make that “will not” instead of “cannot”; other airlines seem to manage it somehow.
Full article: Airline says ‘no’ to help
Boettcher Hall renovation to be accessible
Looks like the Boettcher is planning to avoid the mistakes made in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House renovation:
The city will hire a special consultant to make sure Boettcher is fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Ellie was promptly condemned by many disability groups, and a lawsuit against the city is pending.
Caulkins Opera [...]
Copenhagen Airport accessibility improvements
Airport Accessibility in Copenhagen
So far, the airlines flying out of Copenhagen Airport have provided services to disabled persons through their handling companies, which meant that what these travellers were offered varied greatly from one airline to the next. The new service for disabled persons that Copenhagen Airport will be offering in cooperation with an external [...]
Kauai - National Car Rental
We rented from National, a full-size sedan with hand controls.
I’m guessing they installed the controls specifically for this rental (Hertz keeps a certain number of cars permanently equipped with hand controls). The controls were pretty much fine, except that they tended to run into the steering wheel when accelerating or turning. If it had really [...]
Kauai - Opaeka’a Falls and Kamokila Hawaiian Village
The Opaeka’a Falls overlook is on Kuamo’o Road (580) about a mile and a half west of Highway 56. It’s a beautiful vista. The sidewalk at the overlook has no curbcut. If you can get onto the sidewalk, you can also follow a path to the other side of the highway overlooking the Wailua River [...]
Profits or Access?
I urge you to go now and read Stephen Kuusisto’s post The Argument Against Lifeboats:
Why is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a lobbying organization for American businesses, opposed to the ADA Restoration Act currently being debated on Capitol Hill?
[...]
The general argument by opponents of disability rights is that having to make a business or work [...]
Kauai - East Coast Bike Path
This is a find! Starting at the north end of Kapa’a, park at the end of Moanakai Road (Waipouli Beach Park). A 10 foot wide, 2.5 mile long paved trail begins here and ends at Kealia Beach. It’s slightly uphill going north. It’s all beach, beach, beach, ocean, ocean as far as the eye can [...]
Kauai - Kauai Coffee Company
The Kauai Coffee Company, down at the end of Route 540 near Ele’ele, has a nice little visitor center/gift shop, tiny museum and all varieties of coffee available to taste. They’ve set up a short self-guided orchard tour that is completely accessible. Great restrooms, too.
Kauai - Salt Pond Beach Park
Beach number two with wheelchair accessibility - Salt Pond Beach Park is near Hanapepe, and also has a Landeeze beach wheelchair. The lifeguards here are less familiar with the chair and had to dig it out from under a bunch of stuff, so I guess it’s not used very often. It’s kind of busted up [...]
Kauai - Waimea Canyon
The drive up Waimea Canyon is fantastic, and there are numerous wheelchair accessible lookouts. The first lookout, Waimea Canyon Lookout, has a ramped path to a lower lookout. There’s a higher spot that is accessible via a very steep path - if you take that one, you should plan to have help coming down to [...]
Kauai - Koloa
Koloa, just north of Poipu, is pretty much just a couple of blocks of shops. There’s a grocery store, a bank, a post office, and a good pharmacy (not drug store) in addition to more boutique-y/tourist places. Wheelchair access is very iffy. Ramps lead up and around buildings to stairs. Short stretches of sidewalk lead [...]
Kauai - Poipu Beach Park
Beach number one with wheelchair accessibility: Poipu Beach Park has a Landeeze all-terrain wheelchair.
Park across the street - there are two permit spots. There’s a paved walk up to the beach (but not to the lifeguard station). There are accessible restrooms. Get your buddy to go to the lifeguard station and ask for the beach [...]
Kauai - the condo
Mele Kalikimaka from Kauai! We are spending two weeks on Garden Island.
We’re staying in a condo at Kuhio Shores, overlooking the beach. I conducted a fairly extensive email communication with the owner over several months prior to our trip. My regular chair is 24 inches wide without any camber, so I told him I needed [...]
Accessible subway stations
So you’re in a world-class cosmopolitan city with a fantastic subway transit system. You get your handy-dandy subway map, and you start trying to decipher the tiny little symbols that mean that a particular station is wheelchair-accessible, if the elevator isn’t broken.
Wouldn’t it be easier if someone just erased the inaccessible stations, so you could [...]
Wanting Too Much?
Occasionally I will get into a funk and wonder if I want too much - too much access, too much fairness, too much equality.
Luckily there are people to come to my rescue. Stephen Kuusisto points out that
providing special education to kids in our public schools, or putting in accessible curb cuts are no longer [...]
Air travel easier ‘except for disabled’
From Australia’s The Age:
Personal accounts from disabled travellers contained in the report include a quadriplegic man who was incorrectly told an airline was “breaking the law” by having him onboard.
Airlines warned not to bar disabled
LOW-COST carriers have been warned not to attempt to cut costs by discriminating against the disabled after two airlines recently sought exemptions from laws designed to grant handicapped travellers equal access to transport.
Full story: The Australian
Disabled woman’s home feels like jail
I’m going to have to add a category just for condo associations (see this, and this, and this).
And now there’s this:
For more than a year, Fontanez has been trying to break free. But each time she has gotten close, officials of the Casa Del Rio Condominium Association have stood in her way.
This week she filed [...]
It’s not about Josh Blue
Last night, I went to see Josh Blue at the Boulder Theater. It was a benefit to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Center for People With Disabilities in Boulder. My company is a sponsor of the CPWD, so that’s why I got to had to go.
Remembering my previous experience with the Boulder Theater, and [...]
Lafayette CO passes visitability ordinance
Lafayette adopted what is likely Colorado’s toughest residential access measure Tuesday night, mandating that a quarter of new homes built in the city guarantee access to people with disabilities.
The city’s “visitability” ordinance, passed by a 7-0 vote, requires that 25 percent of new homes constructed in Lafayette include at least one stairless entrance into [...]
When Accessibility isn’t Hospitality
When Accessibility isn’t Hospitality
With a modest column of space, an unremarkable bit of engineering and an ascent of less than 10 feet, Buddakan had given her a path to a meal and an experience like any other diner’s.
Or had it?
The author is making a point that grudging or thoughtless access is an insult in itself, [...]
Beijing Paralympics to help China’s disabled
From the Guardian:
“We believe that the Paralympics will enhance the international influence of China’s disabled people and give them more self-esteem as well as make them more confident and self-sufficient,” Tang Xiaoquan, executive vice president of Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), told a news conference.
Beijing Paralympics to help China’s disabled
The Case of the Missing Parking Space
A couple of months ago, I popped around to the local travel store, Changes in Latitude, looking for some luggage tags. (Complete non sequitur - the store has a URL I bet a Center for Independent Living would love to have.)
But the handicapped parking space that used to be in front of the store was [...]
Airline’s refusal to let disabled passenger board ‘not discrimination,’ court rules
Thanks to Elizabeth in her post at Ouch! for finding this one. This is a horrifying step in the wrong direction.
Friday, August 10, 2007 at 05:00 EDT
AMAGASAKI — The Kobe District Court dismissed on Thursday a damages suit filed by a 37-year-old man seeking compensation from Singapore Airlines, claiming the airline’s refusal to let him [...]
Accessible CAPTCHAs?
Donimo says:
I have two arts-based disability blogs and I was unaware of the problem with captchas. So many people use them to avoid spam comments. How do you avoid this? Can you recommend any sites for guidelines for making an accessible web site?
My personal response, before I go googling, is to say don’t use CAPTCHA. [...]
Linkroll update
Craig Grimes, who has been MIA for a year at AccessibleConsulting, is now back and blogging at Accessible Everything. I’m looking forward to seeing what he has to say. I would have left a comment, but he’s enabled captchas, which are both disability-unfriendly and cross-platform-unfriendly.
Going to the Theater
Sometimes I feel like Christiane is my long-lost twin.
Here’s a translation of her post about calling the theater:
A call to the Thalia Theater in Hamburg.
Me: “Hello. Can you tell me if the Nachtasyl (the pub in the theater) is accessible?”
Silence at the other end.
Me: “I’d like to know if I can get into the Nachtasyl [...]
Access in paradise
I’m planning a Christmas trip to Hawaii. It is, of course, very late to be planning a Christmas trip to Hawaii. Here’s one set of email exchanges:
Date: Fri, June 15, 2007 5:48 PM
From: “Katja Stokley”
To: “Serene”
Subject: wheelchair accessible condos?
Aloha,
I notice on your website you mention wheelchair accessible grounds (http://www.xxxxxxxx.com/view.htm); are any of your condos accessible [...]
Buell Response
I’ve gotten a very thoughtful response to my letter about the Buell Theater from the City & County of Denver Theatres and Arenas division. It was not merely a form letter; the writer investigated my concerns and spoke to the ushers involved. She reported that the Buell will be adding 5 more wheelchair accessible [...]
Audience Development Opportunity
Wheelchair Dancer gave me this link in response to the entry about accessibility at Buell Theater below. Here’s what hit me right between the eyes:
Increasing your accessibility is an audience development opportunity — not a costly, facility retro-fitting, capital project. The gains far outweigh the costs. One in five persons have a disability - that’s [...]
Evening out at the Buell Theater
For my daughter, since she expects me to write about this:
To the House Manager, Buell Theater:
I attended Wicked at the Buell on Wednesday, May 23rd. I am a wheelchair user. I want to express my disappointment with my experience, beginning with purchasing the tickets.
An examination of your seating chart shows that very few orchestra seats [...]
Like Schumacher, after the bus
Christiane vs the bus:
It was the White City stop, the same story as yesterday. I’m waiting in full sight at the bus stop, holding my hand out towards the street, clearly signalling to the driver that I want to get on. And just like yesterday, the driver leaves me standing there.
I practically exploded with anger. [...]
Everyone’s welcome, pee before you come
I’m like a broken record, discovering the same thing over and over again.
Tonight we rehearsed at Boulder Seventh Day Adventist Church. Inadequate parking, overly steep ramp, no flat area in front of the door, four steps up to to the chancel, no accessible restroom. Pee before you come.
I dug back into old email from when [...]
Rolling the Labyrinth
This is cool:
Nuns open wheelchair accessible labyrinth
A cellphone that knows where steps and ramps are?
New Software Blazes Barrier-Free Trails for Wheelchair Users
Life sciences student Anette von Laffert is rushing to get to a rugby game. She hurries quickly down an alleyway but suddenly stops at the sight of an obstacle: a pair of steps. Oh no, she thinks. Here we go again.
Or rather: Here we don’t go again. For [...]
No aisle chair at the inn
Last month, I arrived in Denver on a flight and no aisle chair appeared. We waited. No aisle chair. The crew left, and the new crew came on. At first the new crew thought I was a pre-board who was going to be departing with them, and offered to make sure my wheelchair (”Is that [...]
New Jersey Citizen Action
Is anyone familiar with a lawsuit that NJ Citizen Action has filed against NJ Transit?
An able-bodied acquaintance of mine has recently had her eyes opened to the poor state of access in public transit. She is interested both in learnnig more and in helping improve things. Since she is specifically interested in how NJ Transit [...]
Choosing to remain inaccessible
The Boulder Book Store ought to be my bookstore of choice: locally owned, eclectic selection, new and used books - but it’s a three story (three and a half story?) building with no elevator, and the management has no intention of installing one. So I boycott it, unless I happen to be on the Pearl [...]
Accessibility statements
When I talk to people about accessibility, it frequently takes them by surprise when I suggest that they add a statement about accessibility to their website.
An accessibility statement describes what is and isn’t accessible at a particular facility, and saves a patron or visitor from having to call up and talk to someone who probably [...]
I burn with shame
Despite her use of the unfortunate “confined to a wheelchair”, here is a minister who now gets it:
A few months later, the decision was made to move our regular weekly worship to a new location due to the space limits at the park rec center. A local AME Zion church in our neighborhood opened their [...]
Musical hotel rooms
In Albuquerque, for a 10 day stay, I got a fairly decent accessible hotel room (212) that was unfortunately on the second floor. Unfortunate because the second floor had numerous meeting and banquet rooms as well as guest rooms. I was (theoretically) working the swing shift (2:00 pm to 10:00 pm), and after being woken [...]
The Cathedral Church of St. John, Albuquerque
Website: http://www.stjohnsabq.org/home/Welcome.html
Parking:
on the street (metered, Albuquerque allows handicapped parking permit holders to park at meters for free)
church lot on the northeast corner of property, no permit spaces
commercial parking lot across the street to the north, no charge on Sundays
Building access:
The building is accessible via the northeast entrance; all other entrances have steps. There is no [...]
Pigs have flown
I went off tonight, back to the inaccessible church (after much renovation), for choir rehearsal. My Beloved said, “You better pee before you go.”
I admit, I was skeptical. But children, I am here to tell you that after seven draining, gut-wrenchingly painful years, St Andrew Presbyterian Church of Boulder has a wheelchair accessible restroom.
So you [...]
Pigs hanging around the runway
St Andrew Presbyterian in Boulder still hasn’t managed to have its re-dedication Sunday - it’s been postponed several times.
My choir has resumed rehearsing there, so I’m going tonight. Since we’re channelling a Michigan winter, I called to ask if they had moved the handicapped permit spaces, increased the number of spaces, shovelled the curbcuts and/or [...]
Hooray for the Albuquerque Sunport
This is a shout out to whoever runs the Albuquerque Sunport (their cute name for the airport) rental car center shuttle bus services.
First, the buses run constantly. I’ve never had to wait for a bus.
Second, the entire fleet was recently replaced with kneeling buses with flip out ramps. (I thought the previous vehicles, which had [...]
So close to perfect
I’ve been cooped up in the house since Tuesday, so my husband and I went out in search of adventure this morning - I suggested we try Roger’s Grove, a park with broad paved paths along the river.
First, let me say that it’s pretty incredible that any city that has two feet of snow dumped [...]
Judge Says Currency Shortchanges the Blind
From the Washington Post: Judge Says Currency Shortchanges the Blind:
A federal judge said yesterday that by keeping all U.S. currency the same size and texture, the government has denied blind people meaningful access to money.
…
Government attorneys argued that forcing the Treasury Department to change the size or texture of the bills would make it harder [...]
Universal Design versus Visitability
Ruth (Wheelie Catholic) has got some discussion going about Universal Design and Visitability.
Universal Design is based on the idea that products and environments should be designed in a way to make them usable by as many people as possible without adaption. It’s a very big (and important) idea. Visitability, on the other hand, is a [...]
Pigs May Have Flown - News at 11
I have just been invited to sing at the re-dedication of Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church, re-opening after many months of construction.
Longtime readers may recall my frustration with this church - I am not a member, but my choir rehearses there, and will again once they are open for business. I have not had the opportunity [...]
Germany - Schloss Nymphenburg
Schloss Nymphenburg, built in the late 17th century, was the summer palace of the kings of Bavaria. It includes castles, pavilions, stables, and a huge 200 acre Baroque/English park. .
My aunt works for the Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung (elegantly in English the Bavarian Administration of State-owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes) in the Restoration Center. Her workshop [...]
Return trip
Christiane has kindly allowed me to translate her blog entries about her recent trip to India.
Der Rückflug (Original German text)
Return trip
Before leaving, we tried to find out what additional security restrictions were in place due to the London incident. On the flight here, I took only carryon luggage (a backpack, a purse). I packed very [...]
Delhi
Christiane has kindly allowed me to translate her blog entries about her recent trip to India.
Delhi (Original German text) - be sure and check the original for the photos.
I didn’t have the time or the opportunity to blog from Delhi. The internet connection was bad and kept dropping. I’ve been back in Germany since this [...]
Hell Airways
Christiane has kindly allowed me to translate her blog entries about her recent trip to India.
Hell Airways (Original German text)
Hell Airways
What a day! What can you expect, when you’ve only had a few hours sleep and the day started at 5 am? But in the end everything was fine. My stomach may be telling me [...]
Bangalore
Christiane has kindly allowed me to translate her blog entries about her recent trip to India.
Bangalore (Original German text)
Bangalore
I don’t even know where to start. I’m overwhelmed by all the impressions I’ve had. Perhaps I’ll start chronologically. After the short night we went to the Microsoft Research Center, a very modern building with decorated in [...]
Welcome to India
Christiane has kindly allowed me to translate her blog entries about her recent trip to India.
Willkommen in India (Original German text)
Welcome to India
Okay, I’ve arrived. I’m in my hotel room and don’t know when I’ll be able to get this blog entry online. Everything here is terribly circuitous. Transportation. porters, checking in at the hotel, [...]
Customer Service
Christiane on customer service:
How to annoy your customers
Today: Making your customers solve your problems.
The book-trade, as you know, is moaning about competition from the internet. I can certainly understand, I wouldn’t want to be an independent bookseller during the Amazon & Co era. But if I’m looking for a new book, and don’t know exactly [...]
Qantas’ turn
They’re getting riled up and uppity down under!
This is discrimination, Qantas told
THE champion wheelchair racer Louise Sauvage, once the smiling face in Qantas promotions, has turned bitter about what she says is the airline’s “discriminatory” approach to disabled passengers.
Qantas’s confirmation that it limits the number of wheelchairs on each flight comes only days after Virgin [...]
Virgin backs down on wheelchair policy
Excellent! I love a happy ending, don’t you?
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) says it is pleased that Virgin Blue has backed down on a policy change affecting disabled passengers.
The airline says wheelchair passengers will no longer have to travel with a carer at their own expense.
The commissioner responsible for disability discrimination, Graeme [...]
Paralympian takes legal action against Virgin Blue
A wheelchair-bound Paralympian is taking legal action against Virgin Blue over its policy on carrying disabled people.
Paul Nunnari says he was told by Virgin Blue staff that he would need to be accompanied by a carer at his own expense the next time he flies with the airline.
Virgin Blue says people who are not able [...]
More on Virgin Blue
Airline to wheelchair users: pay a carer
Paralympics medalist Paul Munnari, who has propelled himself thousands of kilometres, said airline staff had told him he would have to be accompanied by a carer.
The airline’s spokeswoman, Heather Jeffery, last night said the airline had produced a more detailed policy on special needs passengers or “guests”, to take [...]
More hotels
Christiane is also posting about hotel accessibility:
How Accessible is our Hotel?
I travel a great deal, and so I’ve been to a lot of hotels, all over the world. I know that “accessible hotel room” doesn’t necessarily mean accessible hotel room. Even though there’s a DIN for accessible construction, the devil is in the details.
At Podcastday [...]
Hotels, et al
A lot of posting about hotels and what not going on:
Agent Fang on service versus access
Reality Check Woman on Coffee for Crips (I have to say that one of the great things about Albuquerque is the Starbucks drive-in on Gibson, just east of San Mateo - why don’t we have a Starbucks drive-in anywhere? This [...]
Mercedes-Benz museum
Neat! Time for a trip to Stuttgart:
The seven Legend rooms, which guide visitors through the history of the automobile and its times in chronological order, are linked by an around 80-metre long, smooth ramp. This is designed to be equally convenient for the handicapped, with numerous imperceptible transitions to level sections so that wheelchair users [...]