lauredhel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lauredhel) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
accessibility_fail2011-05-01 10:18 pm
lauredhel) wrote in accessibility_fail2011-05-01 10:18 pm
Entry tags:
A Few Days In My Seat
I posted this on my home dw for Blogging Against Disablism Day, but thought some of the accessibility_failies might like to see it too.
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Today is Blogging Against Disablism Day!
I'm going to blog against perhaps the biggest thorn in my side right now - obstructed paths. I really think the reality speaks for itself, so here it is, in the tradition of my image posts for BADD: this is my life.
1. 4WD parked across path with a tree hanging down so as to smack a scooter user in the face on the way,
2. narrow path with overgrown hedge obstructing half of it,
3. tree branch fallen down into the middle of a path,
4. 4WD parked across path,
5. can I get to the path along the beach? I cannot. A ute is parked across the ramp, and the way around is blocked by sand, kerb, and a metal barrier.,
6. 4WD parked on path,
7. unnegotiable kerb, and metal barrier obstructing narrow connecting path,
8. ute parked across path,
9. car parked across path,
10. car parked diagonally across path,
11. car parked on path,
12. ute parked on path
I should emphasise here that I'm not cherry-picking, and that these are not uncommon occurrences. Those photos above? Were taken in about four or five outings. Every.Single.Time I leave the house I encounter obstructions caused by thoughtlessness, arseholery, and illegal behaviour.
These barriers aren't just inconvenient: each time I go around them on rough ground I am in pain. Each time I go around or over them with a bump, my scooter risks damage (my left anti-tip wheel is STILL broken, and we can't figure out how to fix it without $$$.) And each time I go around them on the road my safety (and that of my accompanying dog or child) is compromised.
These barriers also remind me, every time I go out, over and over, that my existence in the world is conditional, that the world is built for "normal" people, that I should expect to be blocked at every turn, and that I move around at the whim of the abled folk.
---
Today is Blogging Against Disablism Day!
I'm going to blog against perhaps the biggest thorn in my side right now - obstructed paths. I really think the reality speaks for itself, so here it is, in the tradition of my image posts for BADD: this is my life.
1. 4WD parked across path with a tree hanging down so as to smack a scooter user in the face on the way,
2. narrow path with overgrown hedge obstructing half of it,
3. tree branch fallen down into the middle of a path,
4. 4WD parked across path,
5. can I get to the path along the beach? I cannot. A ute is parked across the ramp, and the way around is blocked by sand, kerb, and a metal barrier.,
6. 4WD parked on path,
7. unnegotiable kerb, and metal barrier obstructing narrow connecting path,
8. ute parked across path,
9. car parked across path,
10. car parked diagonally across path,
11. car parked on path,
12. ute parked on path
I should emphasise here that I'm not cherry-picking, and that these are not uncommon occurrences. Those photos above? Were taken in about four or five outings. Every.Single.Time I leave the house I encounter obstructions caused by thoughtlessness, arseholery, and illegal behaviour.
These barriers aren't just inconvenient: each time I go around them on rough ground I am in pain. Each time I go around or over them with a bump, my scooter risks damage (my left anti-tip wheel is STILL broken, and we can't figure out how to fix it without $$$.) And each time I go around them on the road my safety (and that of my accompanying dog or child) is compromised.
These barriers also remind me, every time I go out, over and over, that my existence in the world is conditional, that the world is built for "normal" people, that I should expect to be blocked at every turn, and that I move around at the whim of the abled folk.
no subject
I've had my fair share of frustration with people obstructing paths-- and I'm not even a scooter user. No, I really should not have to walk out into traffic because someone has decided to block the pedestrian path... >_<
no subject
And apparently even more specifically, for people with cars.
So that paths can be parked over with impunity because pedestrians simply don't exist - only car drivers are relevant.
(In a similar vein, places where there simply aren't any pavements [US: sidewalks] in the first place, and access to lots in that area is *only* by car!
no subject
As someone who's physically able-bodied but who has neurological issues that prevent driving... I have far more experience with this than I ought to.
Sooo many places around here where there are no sidewalks or pedestrian crossings for spans of several miles. Quite a few places where I've felt like some sort of alien life form because I was having to nearly walk in a ditch because there was no other place for me to walk. Even more places where I was deathly afraid to cross the street because traffic control was an unpredictable mess, and cars generally tend to injure pedestrians rather than vice versa. (Really, would you feel safe crossing at this intersection?)
And even when the bus does stop on that side of the street, and there is a sidewalk on the road itself... that doesn't necessarily mean much, either. An annotated Google Maps satellite photo of one particularly bad example. Yeah, suffice it to say, I didn't shop at Target much when living in that town.
no subject
no subject