(no subject)

[nacbrie]

Presenting: the Front Square of Trinity College, Dublin, containing buildings used for some classes, the chapel, old examination hall, the dining hall, some student accommodation, some student societies and the offices of the Student's Union. So, essentially, necessary ground for all students in the college.

Zoom in. Note the cobblestones. Note the steps, and the lack of wheelchair ramps on *any* of the historic buildings (you can't see it in this pic, but the pointy gothic-y building to the left of the bell tower does have an installed lift, allowing access to the ground floor. Interestingly, this is the only non-College owned building).

The TCD website states that the Old Library (where the Book of Kells, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, is displayed) is wheelchair accessible. It doesn't mention that to get to this building you need to cross 100m of cobblestones, minimum.

Luckily, the worst I have to do is cycle across it, but I have a friend who uses a wheeled walking frame who I want to injure college authorities on behalf of. Even wooden add-on ramps and boarded paths across the 300+ yr old cobbles would make things easier.

Still, it doesn't quite reach the levels of fail attained by my old school, which as I mentioned here, had the designated wheelchair accessible toilet and fire escape down six steps.

Tim Horton's fail

[calligrafiti]

A man in Nova Scotia is taking a Tim Hortons to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission because he can't get his wheelchair into the restaurant and they won't let him use it at the drive-through.

While I could see some safety issues of having a wheelchair at the drive-through window, it seems like fixing the door accessibility issues (and internal maneuverability issues, which the claimant brings up) would have been a reasonable resolution.

A tiny accessibility win!

[onceamy]

A bit of an introduction: I suffer from CFS/ME and fibromyalgia, and associated mobility issues. I do not, as yet, have to use a cane or a wheelchair, but I’m always on the proverbial lookout for accessibility wins and fails. I’m pleased to report the former:
 

I recently (over the weekend) went to the Redcourt homestead to attend my Mother’s wedding, and although I was hurting from a lack of decent sleep and lots of walking, I was incredibly pleased to notice that the female toilets had an accessible toilet placed in the first cubicle (closest to the door), with highly placed bars that were sufficiently strong and high to lift oneself up with. Normally, you wouldn’t expect a bush place to even have an accessible cubicle, let alone the bars!