accessibility_fail | Recent Entries

i just came across this book, rick steves' easy access europe: a guide for travelers with limited mobility & thought it would be helpful to anyone planning to travel to europe.

from amazon;

Product Description
From train and rail pass skills to strategies for visiting open-air folk museums, who else but Rick Steves teaches travelers the skills they really need when traveling through Europe? Most guidebooks don't address the needs of travelers with limited mobility, but Rick Steves believes in comfortable and successful travel for everyone. Rick Steves’ Easy Access Europe focuses on Amsterdam, Bruges, London, Paris, and the Rhine. It provides tips on getting around easily whether you're in a wheelchair or just need to walk slowly. America’s top authority on travel to Europe, Rick Steves has done the legwork, discovered the secrets, and made the mistakes — so travelers don't have to. Completely revised and updated, Rick’s time-tested recommendations for safe and enjoyable travel in Europe have been used by millions of Americans in search of their own unique European travel experience. His tips include: accessibility ratings for all sights, hotels, and restaurants, dependable recommendations for traveling on a budget, roll or stroll tours of historic neighborhoods, and advice from other travelers with physical challenges. Smart ideas are offered on everything from social etiquette to booking a hotel and ordering food. This book is an essential item on any European traveler’s checklist.

azurelunatic

If you are out clubbing, and you see someone with whom you would like to dance, and lo, she is boogeying most righteously, more power to the both of you.

If you see that in addition to her righteous boogeying, she is incorporating the use of a cane, hey, there is a noble history of the use of canes in dance, from tap to Egyptian dance. Even though her cane looks more like it came from Walgreen's than any sort of dance supply establishment.

You may even be so bold as to take her free hand, if it's the sort of establishment where one touches one's fellow dancers, and she does not seem opposed to the concept.

One does not grab the hand with the cane.

One does not lift the hand with the cane from where it's been keeping the cane in fairly close contact with the floor.

Yea, even though she may be boogeying most fucking righteously, do not make the mistake of assuming that because the cane is not actively holding her up all of the time and she is stepping about in a sprightly fashion, that she does not actually need that cane for things like keeping her balance, catching herself in the event of sudden knee pain from a misstep, and the occasional bit of active-holding-up as she burns through her stamina.

Dancing like crazy with a cane and complete confidence is, after all, a much better option for her than hobbling around caneless and being stymied by stairs, and fearing to walk further than a block in case her knees should betray her. This is, after all, the weekend club scene in the city, and who the fuck willingly drives in San Francisco when there are other options?

One does not repeatedly yank the hand with the cane around.

One does not engage in an arm-wrestling match for control of where her hand (with the cane) is.

Even though she might not have immediately slapped you silly, this is still not okay. She might have been too shocked and appalled, and too unwilling to start shit on the dance floor when she was having fucking fun and out actually dancing for the first time in fucking years, and the first time with a cane, in celebration of her increased mobility.

In fact, this may be the first time that she's ever had to deal with someone being an appalling creep about the goddamn cane, and she may not be used to setting boundaries like that, because it's never come up before.

Because the vast majority of people are not drunk as fuck assholes who arm-wrestle you for control of your fucking cane, you idiot.

Current Location: The DNA Lounge, San Francisco, CA
Current Mood: cranky
Current Music: Abney Park, 2010 Feb 06, way the fuck early in the morning

jackandahat

Went back in to Remploy, turned out my adviser had had a word with the guy about the cane-snatching after I left. I told him if it happens again, I'm walking and there will be a serious complaint put in. Cane-snatcher apologised then spent the rest of the afternoon ignoring me and refusing to look at me while in the same room. (Yes, he is in fact a grown man and not a six year old. Allegedly.)

So that was sorted... and then my adviser promptly started lecturing me again on how he was sure I could use a phone if it was "Just a bit". Thing is, I know how "Just a bit" works - you start off with a little, then they go "he's coping fine, see?" and give you more, then they ask how why you're not doing your job. He also doesn't seem to understand that I'm not used to phones and I actually don't respond to them. You know how if someone calls someone else's name, you don't look up or respond because it doesn't apply to you? That's me - I'm just not used to phones, so I tend not to register they're ringing. It's a habit rather than a disability but it's due to my disability. It's not me "being awkward"

I don't get it. I'm hard of hearing, why are they the ones not hearing what I say? Why is it so hard to understand that no, I can't hear/understand you if I'm not looking at you? I've told the adviser a few times - get my attention, then when I'm looking at you, talk. Saying "But I called your name" when I had my back to you working on a computer isn't helpful.

And yes. These are the people whose entire job is to help with disability issues.

jackandahat

Right now I'm looking for work, and I've just been sent to an agency - Remploy - who deal with getting disabled people into work. I'm hard of hearing and I have arthritis so I walk with a cane.

I was sat with "my" advisor, Jonathan, getting lectured on how I would be wonderful in this job and I had to think positive thoughts. He yet again pulled the "All you need is adaptive technology" speech - I've discussed with them several times that adapted phones just don't work for me - I've never met one that does, and frankly, it's too much of a bloody struggle.. I was sat down, my cane was propped against my backpack.

The other advisor - I don't know his name, call him Stupid Fuck - picked up my cane and put it behind his back, and started giving a speech about how now no-one would know I was disabled, and I had to think of it like that.

The only thing that kept me from getting up and punching him was knowing I'd lose my benefits if I did. Oh yeah, and the fact he had my cane.

Did I mention this is an agency designed specifically to deal with getting disabled people into work?

So there was absolutely nothing I could do. If I did anything, they'd have stopped my dole money and I wouldn't have been able to afford to, you know, pay rent and eat. I told Jonathan that being told "You don't look disabled" is not helpful, but I was too much in shock to work out what to say about the cane thing - when I go in tomorrow I Will be having words with Stupid Fuck, I just didn't know what to do and he was standing over me.

Anyone else faced this kind of thing? Any ideas what to do/say to him? (I know the obvious is "Put in a complaint", but if that's how the staff act, I suspect they'd laugh in my face.)

jesse_the_k

I'm looking for a handful of iddly-fiddly products (camera case, iPod case, batteries) for one shipping charge. I was pleased to see Newegg.com on a Google search, cause I know they've been in business for more than 10 years. Leap on over to their site and I encounter this:

Screen grab of upper corner of Newegg.com site window, where bright red letters say For optimal viewing, please lower your browser's text size setting

[above is screen grab of upper corner of Newegg.com site window, where bright red letters say For optimal viewing, please lower your browser's text size setting]

Yes, I know it takes more time to design a fluid layout, where I can size my text up to something, y'know, readable.

But in return I will buy your stuff! With real US money! If you hadn't said anything, I would have used Mac OS X's built-in zoom feature and opened my wallet. But, no way, you had to boss your way into my user experience and demand I change my font size!

Current Mood: annoyed

ysobel

The town I live in has a fairly decent public transportation system (which is even accessible, except for the times when they use authentic red London double-decker buses, and you can get a disabled pass that basically gives you free rides) but it's designed around the university, which means that getting from one place to another, when neither of them is near the university, is not always easy.

(this is not the fail. It's annoying, but not fail.)

I have a weekly appointment Fridays at 3pm. Because of the way routes are laid out, I would need to catch a bus at 1:45, ride it for about ten minutes, wait half an hour to transfer to a connecting route, ride it for about five minutes, and be there over half an hour before my appointment. Seriously, I could walk* there faster; it takes less than an hour. A rather miserable less-than-hour if it's cold and rainy, but it's not like the waiting times would be any better.

(* for definitions of walk that translate to using my wheelchair. I think of traveling by wheelchair (without additional vehicles such as being in a van) as walking, but I often confuse people when I say it.)

Now. The place where I lives has a paratransit service. Their official website says, and I quote:

Who May Use This Service?

* Customers who qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
* Disabled customers may be accompanied by a personal attendant at no extra charge when required.
* One unregistered companion may accompany a registered customer, and must pay the 1-way fare.

They are a curb-to-curb service, with the usual fun about how you have to give a 20-minute window (i.e. be available 10 minutes before and after the scheduled time) but the bus will only wait 3 minutes, etc. But basically, it looks like a thing where you can use it if you're disabled, right?

...sort of.

It turns out that you can use it if a) you are disabled, and b) the nature of the disability means that you cannot use any other public transportation service, including the aforementioned bus system.

WTFFF.

(and even more annoyingly: the fare for the bus service is free with a disabled pass, and otherwise $1 per trip; the paratransit is $2.)

ETA: I just realized that they do all communication by phone, which means that an otherwise-independent person with hearing or speech problems is basically screwed. Even better!

azurelunatic

As seen on http://failblog.org:

"I just didn’t feel all that welcome there for some reason."

"Inspirational Fail
Picture by: Bert Submitted by: jwhayne_34 via Fail Uploader
Went to my first and last dance instructional appointment with my wife at the Dance Doctor in Santa Monica, CA"

A little bit of Googling shows that the slogan also repeats on the website. The FAQ says that "Dancing is as easy as walking once you are taught by a Dance Doctor Instructor." So if walking isn't an option, learning with these instructors doesn't seem to be one either.

Granted, dancing on wheels does seem like a very different art than dancing with feet, requiring different instructor skill sets. But oh my goodness, that photo just says it all.

jadelennox

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Syracuse University will not deploy Kindles in the classroom unless Amazon makes them accessible to blind users. The National Federation of the Blind applauds.

codeman38

(Here's an accessibility fail for you: I was trying to edit one of my posts but accidentally deleted it because the buttons are too close together on my phone screen. And of course, there's no confirmation before the post is deleted if the device you're using doesn't support JavaScript.

Anyway, here's the post I was trying to edit... sorry for losing the comments, guys!)

I just received Pixar's Up on DVD from Netflix.

There are NO CAPTIONS OR SUBTITLES on the Netflix version of the DVD, or at least on the copy that I received. (There aren't any menus or extra shorts, either, but the subtitles are particularly important for me.)

The retail version has subtitles in English, French and Spanish, at least according to the packaging and the reviews that I've found. WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!

I even posted a screenshot on Twitpic of the subtitle menu in Apple's DVD player as proof, because I know nobody's going to believe me. (I checked to see if there was a closed-captioning track, too, because some discs have that but not subtitles; there isn't one of those, either.)

Edited to add: Apparently this isn't a fluke; several other people have tweeted about the Redbox DVD having the same "rental" disc ID and also lacking subtitles. If you're trying to get deaf people to buy the retail DVD, this is so the wrong way to do it, guys.

Edited further to add: At least one confirmation on Twitter of Blockbuster also having the un-captioned version.

Edited still further to add: Just confirmed with my own eyes that one of the Up DVDs in a brick-and-mortar Blockbuster store is the caption-less version... despite the box very clearly showing the icon for subtitles. Anyone up for suing Disney for false representation?

Edited yet again to add: Twitter user TheFarmerJoe contacted Disney and got an explanation: the removal of captioning was intentional, because they view closed captioning as a bonus feature. FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL x 1000.

Current Mood: irritated

codeman38

So I just got a tweet about this interactive discussion from the American Association for People with Disabilities:

FIRST-EVER Organizer's Forum!
Tuesday, November 17 1-2 pm EST
Topic: Working Cross-Disability

So, how are they doing this forum?

We'll have a conference call the 3rd Tuesday of each month, 1-2 pm Eastern time.
[...]
(If you haven't done a conference call before, at the set time, just call the number, listen to the prompt, and when it asks for the code, enter the code, including # sign. Then you will be connected!)

Yep, that's right.

There is, of course, nothing in the description about whether they know how to handle a participant calling via relay, whether there will be real-time captioning provided, or really, what anyone's supposed to do who might not be able to "listen for the prompt".

Folks? Your hearing privilege is showing...

(I really need to add a 'facepalm' icon now that DW offers more icons to free users, heh.)

Current Mood: facepalm

sasha_feather

jesse_the_k and I attended an Assistive Technology Expo the other day. It was held in 2 shiny engineering buildings on a major university campus.

The "accessible" doors that everyone was using to enter the main hall were failtastic. They took a long time to open and swung in such a way as to knock into the footplate of a wheelchair, or possibly into the knees of the wheelchair user pushing the button.

Naturally I took pictures.

( two pictures )

Mostly the Expo was fantastic. There were a couple of other things I noted that could have been done to improve access:
--Provide water service (and possibly food service)
--Provide benches and seating
--Have all the exhibits in one building instead of two (the exhibitors in the 2nd building got a lot less traffic I suspect)

codeman38

(cross-posted to

gimp_vent)

Is it just me, or do phone companies make it as hard as possible to get a smartphone on a data-only plan-- at least now that the Sidekick, what I'm using currently on a grandfathered plan, seems to be dead and gone?

Seriously. The whole reason I want a data-centric phone to begin with? Because I can't hear well on the phone. In any given month, I usually don't use more than 100 minutes of talk time because phone calls are so stressful; in most months, I don't even use 60.

( Let's look at the options... )

So, in other words: If you want a data-centric plan, better prepare to have a credit check and be billed on a postpaid basis, possibly with a 2-year contract required. And you may have to go see a doctor in the process to become eligible. If you want an off-contract option, don't expect to have a nice data-centric phone or a reasonably priced data plan.

Seriously, why aren't there more options for this? There are tons of options for voice plans, but very few choices for people who can't use voice services for whatever reason (or who use them so little as to not even hit 100 minutes in a month).

EDITED TO ADD: ( more about Verizon )

aedifica

Thanks everyone for your comments on this post a month ago about the not-entirely-wheelchair-accessible "accessible" bathroom. I finally wrote the letter last week (incorporating the things that were pointed out in comments), let it sit a week so I could look over it with fresh eyes, edited it to be clearer, and I'm sending it today.

mariness

So on Monday morning I contacted the sole "wheelchair supplier" authorized by Cigna and ordered a wheelchair, even though as it turns out they do not actually supply wheelchairs; they verify the claims/prescriptions for wheelchairs and then contract a supplier to send the actual wheelchair. I was informed that I would hear from them within 48 hours. I was pretty skeptical.

( And rightfully so. )

killing_rose

I'm in the middle of a gluten reaction. My joints are on fire and walking very far is not only painful, it's just not possible. Unfortunately, I had to return a DVD to our school library and pick up something for a class.

Until my body flips out, I always forget the extent to which our school fails at accessibility. (I never forget that it does fail; it's hard to miss the fact that there are elevators in fewer than six campus buildings, and stairs in all 25.) I just miss some of the nuances.

But today provided me with an extremely good example: First of all, you have to walk up a flight of stairs to enter the library. The elevator, I am compelled to point out, is inside the library proper; you would have to get the attention of someone upstairs to get access the elevator from the ground floor. Then, to get to to the books you need, you walk up (or down) two to three flights of excessively curving stairs. The elevator is away from the main part of the library because it is for library staff to use.

The rational conclusion for someone with problems climbing these stairs? Use the elevator! Except students aren't allowed to use the elevator. Not unless you have an obvious reason for doing so--and crutches don't count. Let alone, "I'm sorry, but my joints are too inflamed to walk that far." So I clung to the railing and tried very hard not to pitch headfirst down the stairs.

My trip to the library has exhausted my spoons for the foreseeable future. I am not pleased.

codeman38

So there's this site called Ning that allows people to create subject-specific social networking sites in a flash.

For the longest time, they had a visual-only CAPTCHA with no audio alternative and no obvious contact form by which users with vision impairments could contact someone to be signed up.

Recently, in order to improve their security, they changed their CAPTCHA system from a home-grown one to ReCAPTCHA, which has accessibility features built in.

So, naturally, in incorporating the ReCAPTCHA into their page layout... they removed the link for the audio version. Despite the fact that it would not have been much effort to include it, and despite the fact that it's a whole lot easier than rolling one's own audio CAPTCHA.

No, really. See for yourself. (It does, incidentally, show the audio link with JavaScript turned off-- but some Ning forums, naturally, require JavaScript to be turned on in order for the site to work at all, which makes this a very klugy workaround indeed.)

And of course, there's still nothing in the FAQ about what to do if you can't see the CAPTCHA. This is the closest thing, and honestly, I don't think opening firewall connections to *.ning.com will make the image any more readable to a screen reader.

azurelunatic

"How not to buy a wheelchair", in which

mariness battles just plain wrong information to even locate a place that's covered that sells them.

kaz

To put it mildly, I have issues when it comes to telephones.

In the extreme case, I can have a conversation over the telephone without really being able to understand the other person, while saying things I don't mean, but that bit doesn't really matter because I don't know what it is I'm saying and the other person isn't able to understand me anyway. Subsets of this set of circumstances crop up very regularly. As is probably understandable, telephone conversations with people I do not know very well a) take up a large chunk of my spoons and b) are singularly unpleasant experiences that I will go to great lengths to avoid.

So why is it that there are so many things you can only ever do by phone?

The current fail is me trying to get a code from my mobile phone provider so I can switch providers and still keep my number. I send an e-mail. "Sorry, call this number!" I go to their store. "Sorry, you can only do this by phone!" Why is it that when I am standing right there I have to do it by phone? Why is it that among the multitude of alternate communication channels we have at our disposal it has to be this specific one? Is it so utterly impossible for you to imagine there are people who might have problems with it?

The really frustrating thing is, of course, that I *can* use a fistful of spoons to grit my teeth and lift the handset and call the company anyway, with at least a reasonable chance of being able to communicate. There are people who can't. These people might, actually, have mobile phones as you can do far more with them than simply calling people. Or maybe they'd like to do things like changing the address for their credit card (another one of those "sorry, phone only!" things for my bank, which has resulted in my credit card having been unusable for the last year). Methinks Deaf or HoH people, among others, would like to be able to use credit cards too?

Current Mood: aggravated

sami

Lord's is a fitness and recreation complex. It used to be the training centre for the state basketball team, too, but no longer; nonetheless, it's still popular and used extensively as a hub of sporting facilities. People play indoor soccer, netball, basketball, squash, tennis, etc - and there's also a gymnasium and swimming pool.

Unusually, for my experience of fitness centres, it's got solidly good disabled access.

Entry to the building is fine - flat, smooth entry ways, no stairs, etc - and the courts themselves, ditto. The most awkward thing I can see about wheelchair access is perhaps some awkwardness getting through the netting that separates the courts, but that's mildly awkward for the able-bodied, too - there's only so much you can do if you're trying to restrain the possibility of balls flying in every direction.

What was *seriously* awesome to realise about the setup was the gym.

The women's locker rooms (can't speak for the men's) have push doors to wide corridors between the rows of lockers. There is a short stairway, but it only leads to a small group of more lockers; access to the showers and toilet facilities (disabled included) is on the flat.

When you go into the gymnasium itself, unlike *every* other gym I've been to, the spaces around the machines are wide, and the machines are laid out in a way that means that there'll just be plenty of room for people and chairs to move around them. The free weight area is spacious, without obstructions, and was neat and tidy.

Again, there is a set of stairs - but the upper gallery area is used only for treadmills and cross-trainers, and I can't imagine how you would be wanting to use either of those if you couldn't manage the stairs.

And finally you have the staff and other users of the gym. I went in as a heavily overweight woman, moving a little awkwardly and leaning hard on a cane. The other patrons were friendly enough; even the older man who looked kind of grumpy, when he actually passed me as we were both changing machines, made a friendly comment about the weather.

The staff were friendly and helpful. All the reception-type folk were welcoming and passed no comment that wasn't directly relevant to our interactions. The personal trainer I talked to was friendly and encouraging. She asked me about my mobility and pain problems, but only for their relevance to working out exercise plans for me, making sure that we had a plan that was as comprehensive a workout as I would be able to handle, but risk no harm, unnecessary pain, or aggravation of my problems.

It's the most disability-friendly gym I've ever seen, both for access and what seems to be a really positive attitude of welcoming and encouraging anyone who seeks to improve their fitness and health. This is a gym where the stretching area is spacious, and supplied with plenty of mats and fitness balls, and the layout of the free weight area prioritises accessibility. It really looks as if someone worked out the gym's floor plan with wheelchairs in mind.

pauamma

From http://talklikeapirate.com/tlapd09_2.html#Europe:

The Jubilee Sailing Trust is a registered charity UK that owns and operates Lord Nelson and Tenacious, the only two tall ships in the world designed and built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail side-by-side as equals. This year they urgin their fundraisers to don an eyepatch on Sept. 19 and talk like pirates as they solicit donations for this fine (and piratical) cause.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28

You Fail At Accessibility

accessibility win (travel)

Dancing with a partner with a cane, a free hint:

Follow up to yesterday.

When the people who claim to help are the problem.

Pushing Away Customers: Bossy Site is Bossy

Okay, seriously?

You can dance if you want to...

accessibility win (in the "no compromise" sense)

"Up"? More like down...

Cross-disability-except-for-one

Faily "accessible" doors

Can you hear me now? No...

Letter sent!

Wheelchair update: a rant

My college library--not terribly accessible

A special kind of accessibility fail

Cigna, wheelchairs, and Florida.

The telephone thing

Rare-to-me win: Lord's Subiaco

This qualifies as winnitude, I think.

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February 2010

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