gblvr: screencap of basilisk-frozen Hermoine Granger with the caption " "Oh no!." she said flatly."  Mockery of bad-fic. ("Oh no!." she said flatly.)
gblvr ([personal profile] gblvr) wrote in [community profile] accessibility_fail2010-09-15 02:40 pm
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Entrance Fail

I recently stayed overnight at the Hampton Inn in Alexandria, VA, and I ran into a case of accessibility fail.

The automatic front doors of the hotel are at the top of a small flight of stairs; there is a narrow ramp that goes to the side door, but doesn't lead onto the 'porch' area in front of the automatic doors. In order to enter the vestibule, one needs to be able to open a door that swings out, or to have someone hold the door for them, which leads to other problems, as the ramp isn't quite wide enough to fit a person side-by-side with a wheelchair.

While we were waiting to check-in, I overheard an older gentleman who was pushing his wife's wheelchair commenting on the poor set-up of the doors; when attempting to use a luggage cart, I discovered first hand just how difficult the set up was.

I'm sure this meets the letter of the law, but it certainly doesn't fulfill the spirit.
wheelieterp: The back of me, sitting in my wheelchair, hands in the air, rolling down a hill. Black and white (roll on)

[personal profile] wheelieterp 2010-09-16 02:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Sadly, your fail is such a common one.. Even more sadly, it does meet the spirit of the law. The ADA is a list of instructions on how not to get sued. Not only does that make it about them and not us, it also creates the possibility for "good enough under the law" to be completely useless to any real individual.

Thanks for the post.