You can't get there from here

The sign tells the first part of this story: The "handicap" entrance to the Derby City Antique Mall is around back -- same area as the loading dock. The building was originally an old school -- used to be called Hikes Graded School in the old days. Now it's an antique mall. See all the steps at the front entrance?




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Around back, way high up next to the door we see this sign:




And here's the entrance:




Ignore if you will, the dangerous grate. Ignore the steep ramp.You can't see it, you can only see the ledge next to it. But there is a ramp -- steep, but usable.
Except when you roll down to the doors -- they're locked.

"Flat" isn't the only issue with access

What's wrong with this picture? Looks like nothing's wrong. But looks can be deceiving.




I took this photo coming out of my polling place. It's a flat entrance. Once you get in, it's all flat. It's flat all the way to where you vote.

The problem? The doors. They are so incredibly heavy I had a really hard time opening them. When I went in, I held the door open for an older lady using a walker. She was "frail": no way she'd've been able to pull the door open.

And forget it if you in a wheelchair.

Is this polling site accessible? No.

But the officials certainly think it is.

Where is this? It's at a church; but it's such a typical problem that this photo could serve for countless other polling sites. When we talk about 'access' we need to consider what we really mean.

Fountain drinks from on high

I stopped in at a fish-sandwich place the other day for lunch and encountered a "fountain drinks" counter way too high to reach.

It's not the first time I've encountered one like this -- the other one I recall is also at a fish place, but they're everywhere.

The counter all the stuff sits on is simply too high. They've got that soft-drink dispenser unit, those big urns, the cups and the napkins, straws and stuff all up on a counter that's probably about 4 feet off the ground to start with.

What's the point? There are plenty of fountain drink stations in fast-food restaurants that are on counters much lower. So what could possibly be the thinking of those who install these high counters?

Well, there it is -- no thinking.

What it tells me is that, once again, nobody -- not contractors, not owners, certainly not building or restaurant inspectors -- pays the slightest bit of attention to the fact that these things are supposed to be at an ACCESSIBLE height.

"Oh, they'll always help you get your drink for you!"

That's the response to complaints, isn't it?

But it's not the right response. The right response would be to put the counter lower in the first place.

Bumpy access at Westport Village, and a lot of lip

The other day I went over to Westport Village, that Universal-Studio-back-lot looking "renovation" of what used to be the Camelot Shopping Center, at Westport Rd. and Herr Lane. Looks like somebody had a bad idea for Cute. Or a Ye Trendie Village Malle, or some such.

But I digress.

In their effort to be Trendy, developers decided on -- yes! cobble stones! -- at all the intersections. See photo.



This kind of stuff falls into the realm of things that are Legally Accessible But Uncool. Years ago some wags called these kinds of intersections Podiatry Squares, for obvious reasons. But there they are -- a whole bunch of them scattered at, uh, intersections in this Westport Village creation.

And you'll see in the photo above that there are ramps, too. Below is a photo of another ramp; one that ramps directly from the parking lot to the sidewalk. Below that is a detail of the lip.

All these ramps are, I suspect, considered very Legal. Red ramps, to boot. Must be something about vision impairment. But you'll see that the ramps -- and all of them appear to be alike in this -- they all end in a big lip.



This photo doesn't really do the lip justice. It's a huge lip -- well over an inch high -- probably 2 inches.

I already know what the developers will say if called on this. "Oh, we have to make them high because we'll eventually fill in with more blacktop."

It's something I've heard before when I've called folks on ramps like this. But it's a specious argument, becuase there's no reason why adding additional blacktop to an already-flush-with-the-street ramp will make it less accessible. It's inaccessible NOW. That's the problem.

Just for the record: the parking lot does appear to be getting the requisite striping. Most of the ramps that empty into the parking lot have the diagonal "no parking" stripes at their ends. This one didn't just because they hadn't finished painting on the strips. Since there are ramps every couple of hundred feet (I said it was all very Legally Accessible!) and the others were already striped, I am not too worried about this.

I am worried about the Lips.

'Separate-but-equal' sinks

Couldn't resist getting a photo of this "handicap access solution" I found recently. The venue isn't important. The concept is important.

The concept is "separate but equal." You have a restroom in your building. It's supposed to have levers for the sink faucets. So far, so good. You're OK with that. . . But, note, only for one of the sinks. The "special" one.

"Special" has done more to harm the cause of access than about anything I can think of.

Why aren't all restroom stalls larger, for example? Why does the stall door open outward only on the "accessible" one?

Aside from accessible parking, which really does mean spots need to be set aside, close in, I can think of very very few instances when it doesn't make more sense to just make EVERY COMPONENT accessible:

• Flat entrance, rather than ramps-and-steps
• Automatic doors, rather than manual doors and one "special" door with a "button"
• Light switches lowered throughout
• Wider hallways throughout. . .

The list can go on and on.

One benefit of the avoidance of "special" -- that is to say, integration -- is that if you can't segregate out those items that are "special," it's much harder to point to this or that as being "too costly" -- as in, "That ramp cost us xxx" or "That special automatic door cost xxx" -- if the building is simply "barrier-free" then it's just "barrier-free." (You don't hear the term "barrier-free" as much nowadays. Wonder why?)

The other benefit of integration is, of course, the avoidance of stigma. If it's all the same, no one need feel embarrassed by needing the "special" entrance, toilet stall, menu, seating...

Enuf said.

I'd love to get some comments about ths idea.

Can't get there from here...

So here we are at Wild Eggs (3985 Dutchmans Lane) - reviewed this weekend in the C-J.

Thing is, the accessible parking is way way back in the back, where you have to try to roll past all these cars and squeeze in the narrow passageway -- ooh, can I squeeze past that bench there? oops! watch the planter! -- oops! can I get around that post? Several of 'em -- see 'em? There's a newspaper box sticking out. We're taking the photo right by the box there.

Here's the thing: This photo we took standing right at the front door. It's flat right there -- it's flat all along there. There's parking right at the front door. You can see the cars.

Sure, they could have put the accessible parking right here at the front door.

But nooooo, it's way back in the back.

Any idea why?

This is a NEW RESTAURANT! Just opened!!!

How can they get by with this ridiculous "path of travel" problem?

Too-common problems: towelbar height

The image is of a restaurant restroom. Which restaurant? Doesn't matter. The picture is so typical it could represent dozens of restaurant restrooms in Louisville; thousands nationwide.

It's clear the folks here were thinking of access -- or at least the contractors putting the restroom in were thinking of it. The state building code's access requirements have things spelled out for restroom access.

Yup. Sure do.

"Reach ranges" are spelled out in the code. Nothing -- like towel dispensers, for example -- is supposed to be higher than 48 inches from the floor.

Somebody wasn't using a tape measure when they installed this towel dispenser.

But this restroom is far from unique. In fact, too-high towel dispensers are common in "accessible" restrooms. Why?

I can't figure that one out. Seems like such an easy thing.

Nobody cares? But why would whoever is putting together an accessible restroom WANT to put a towel dispenser so high? Don't they think? Don't they REALIZE that someone who has limited arm mobility would have a hard time reaching this thing?

Don't they think disabled people need to use towels in the restroom?

Don't they think?

Why not?