Jesse the K (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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accessibility_fail2014-03-20 05:22 pm
jesse_the_k) wrote in accessibility_fail2014-03-20 05:22 pm
Entry tags:
Dismantling Access Features
Visited grocery service desk to buy bus tickets and discovered several access features (I'd used previously) which had been dismantled:
At the standing-height counter, the wheelchair-height cutout had been filled up with a lottery ticket dispenser. This meant the clerk and I couldn't touch hands, so they clerk had to leave their station and walk all the way around to hand me the tickets. The swipe-and-sign machine for credit cards has a swivel, so I have used independently before. But someone had pointlessly pushed a bookshelf under the counter, so I couldn't reach it.
I brought these issues up to the clerk. I managed to keep my cool. I pointed out that finding accessible features destroyed is very frustrating. Does this analogy work for you? Delighted to entertain suggestions.
Encountering demolished access features is like getting a big delivery of gravel at the bottom of your driveway that you never ordered. When you complain, the response is, "Oh, I'll help you park your car down the street" or "Oh, just wait, I'll round up a group of folks to help you move stuff out of the garage. It might be three hours — is that OK?"
I'm writing the grocery's central office. I suspect the response is going to be along the lines, "well, you were able to complete your purchase, and weren't our staff polite and helpful?" And yes, the clerk was polite, and helpful, and unable to wipe away the psychic spit this encounter smeared over my glasses.
At the standing-height counter, the wheelchair-height cutout had been filled up with a lottery ticket dispenser. This meant the clerk and I couldn't touch hands, so they clerk had to leave their station and walk all the way around to hand me the tickets. The swipe-and-sign machine for credit cards has a swivel, so I have used independently before. But someone had pointlessly pushed a bookshelf under the counter, so I couldn't reach it.
I brought these issues up to the clerk. I managed to keep my cool. I pointed out that finding accessible features destroyed is very frustrating. Does this analogy work for you? Delighted to entertain suggestions.
Encountering demolished access features is like getting a big delivery of gravel at the bottom of your driveway that you never ordered. When you complain, the response is, "Oh, I'll help you park your car down the street" or "Oh, just wait, I'll round up a group of folks to help you move stuff out of the garage. It might be three hours — is that OK?"
I'm writing the grocery's central office. I suspect the response is going to be along the lines, "well, you were able to complete your purchase, and weren't our staff polite and helpful?" And yes, the clerk was polite, and helpful, and unable to wipe away the psychic spit this encounter smeared over my glasses.