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ysobel) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
accessibility_fail2011-04-17 11:00 pm
ysobel) wrote in accessibility_fail2011-04-17 11:00 pm
Someone needs a lesson in where (not) to put signs.
Picture this: There is a T intersection of two semi-major streets. The two corners have curb cuts, there are parallel curb cuts for the sidewalk along the top edge of the T, and there are crosswalk lines on all three possible crossings.
If you are walking along the street that forms the top bar of the T, with the street to your right, you will find the following to your left: Up until the outer edge of the first curb cut, there is grass. For the area between and including the two curb cuts, there is an open patio of flat concrete. (Beyond the patio area there is a building.) After the second curb cut, there is grass.
With me so far?
For those that want a visual depiction, I scrabbled up a pathetic Paint image:
This is the T intersection, sideways because that's the way I was approaching it, so the top bar of the T is the vertical center area and the other street goes off to the right. Red lines are curbs, green squares are grass, yellow is curb cuts (squares) and street crossings )line), the purple circle is me, and the black is ... well. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
You know the sort of portable sidewalk signs (the ones that form an upside-down V when they're up, but can be easily carried away and stored flat) that some places use?
...the sort that commonly are placed blocking the sidewalk?
There was one set up, for a "many-path" sort of spiritual center that I guess meets in the building. Now, with the WHOLE CONCRETE PATIO AREA to choose from, guess where they set up the sidewalk sign?
(This is, mind you, an "inclusive" spiritual community "open and embracing all peoples". Yes, I googled their website. Yes, I am pissed off enough to use scare quotes.)
Those of you following the visual aid might have a sneaking suspicion that the black line represents their sign. And you would be right! The Sidewalk-Blocking Sign of Doom, as I now call it, was set up BLOCKING THE SIDEWALK before the first of the curb cuts.
Those of you who are following the visual aid and are especially observant might notice the red curb line along the grass bordering the patio area. I could get onto the grass from the sidewalk; I could not get off anywhere past the sign.
...If I had been in the mood to be a Nice Little Wheelchair, I would have meekly backtracked, either a) to the previous curb cut (actually a driveway to a parking lot) and then gone the wrong way down the bike lane to the intersection, or b) around the entire grassy area to the patio, since there are alternative paths, and then down the curb cut.
I was not.
Instead, I ran into the sign (very gently and carefully of course) until it fell over, and then pushed it out of the way of the curb cut that it had of course fallen across.
(Halfway through this process, someone on the other side of the street shouted "Do you need any help?" After ascertaining that they were talking to me, I answered "No, thank you" very sweetly. They helped anyway, looking very disapproving. I? Totally did not care a whit.)
If you are walking along the street that forms the top bar of the T, with the street to your right, you will find the following to your left: Up until the outer edge of the first curb cut, there is grass. For the area between and including the two curb cuts, there is an open patio of flat concrete. (Beyond the patio area there is a building.) After the second curb cut, there is grass.
With me so far?
For those that want a visual depiction, I scrabbled up a pathetic Paint image:
This is the T intersection, sideways because that's the way I was approaching it, so the top bar of the T is the vertical center area and the other street goes off to the right. Red lines are curbs, green squares are grass, yellow is curb cuts (squares) and street crossings )line), the purple circle is me, and the black is ... well. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
You know the sort of portable sidewalk signs (the ones that form an upside-down V when they're up, but can be easily carried away and stored flat) that some places use?
...the sort that commonly are placed blocking the sidewalk?
There was one set up, for a "many-path" sort of spiritual center that I guess meets in the building. Now, with the WHOLE CONCRETE PATIO AREA to choose from, guess where they set up the sidewalk sign?
(This is, mind you, an "inclusive" spiritual community "open and embracing all peoples". Yes, I googled their website. Yes, I am pissed off enough to use scare quotes.)
Those of you following the visual aid might have a sneaking suspicion that the black line represents their sign. And you would be right! The Sidewalk-Blocking Sign of Doom, as I now call it, was set up BLOCKING THE SIDEWALK before the first of the curb cuts.
Those of you who are following the visual aid and are especially observant might notice the red curb line along the grass bordering the patio area. I could get onto the grass from the sidewalk; I could not get off anywhere past the sign.
...If I had been in the mood to be a Nice Little Wheelchair, I would have meekly backtracked, either a) to the previous curb cut (actually a driveway to a parking lot) and then gone the wrong way down the bike lane to the intersection, or b) around the entire grassy area to the patio, since there are alternative paths, and then down the curb cut.
I was not.
Instead, I ran into the sign (very gently and carefully of course) until it fell over, and then pushed it out of the way of the curb cut that it had of course fallen across.
(Halfway through this process, someone on the other side of the street shouted "Do you need any help?" After ascertaining that they were talking to me, I answered "No, thank you" very sweetly. They helped anyway, looking very disapproving. I? Totally did not care a whit.)
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The sign had it coming.
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(Then again, I have no objection to the sign itself, just to its placement.)
(I may, however, send the organization an appropriate "PLZ DO NOT DO KTHX" email. Once I'm no longer snarky.)
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"It had it coming,
It had it coming,
It only had itself to blame.
If you'd have been there,
If you'd have seen it,
I tell you, you would have done the same."
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"And then it ran into my chair! It ran into my chair TEN TIMES!"
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"Nope! I've got it pretty well dead, thanks!"
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B) Now I wanna filk that does that whole wheelchair tango. Badly. Any chance I could interest you in making a youtube video with me?
C) Maybe we should take a walk today, to a certain intersection...
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Somehow I doubt that accessibility was even on their mental radar.
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We need to do an Evil Crips of Doom spoof of this. I can even picture an ASL chorus replacing "pop" with "ring" and something about bicycles on sidewalks...
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"But it's blocking the kerb cut. That's no good! Let me help, I'll make you a new ramp. This sign will do, I think." *use sign as ramp* "Hmm, that chair looks heavy, though, better make sure it'll be safe." *jump up and down on sign until it breaks* "Whoops. That's no good. Still, now that I think about it, the kerb cut is clear now, so you should be fine. I'll just take this sign to the owners and explain that it appears to have been accidentally damaged due to blocking path access. Tragic."
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Go! Go!
(Times like these I wish I had a semi-truck horn simulator under my seat. I'd slide into the offending establishment, wait a while so people were looking at me, and then honk shave-and-a-haircut, two bits.