Inspector Gadget
Registered User
It is staggering how often I have to push builders/designers to incorporate the *mandatory* accessibility features. Next to basic structural foulups made by DIY deck builders and ill-trained rookie builders, I swear the accessibility stuff is probably the third or fourth-most problematic code enforcement issue I face.
Without going into details, I have a file right now where a religious institution *refuses* to make a pair of public buildings accessible. "We don't have any of *those* people," the church lady said. Pushing this to resolution is almost certainly - at this point - going to be ugly, political, and may end up in court. Yeah.
It's tiresome. Draining at times. I don't get it.
But this weekend, in another jurisdiction, I had an experience worth sharing. Assembly occupancy - a theatre/performance venue. An individual with extensive mobility issues struggled to gain access to the venue. After the show, a "portable" ramp with a nasty slope and no handrails was the best the venue could do to assist her departure. The poor lady was stuck for about five minutes and finally gave up, and struggled - with obvious pain - to use the steps.
There was absolutely no reason this venue could not have made accessible. There was sufficient space at a side door to accommodate the slope of a ramp.
I had a little chat with the woman, told her what I did for a living, and offered my sympathy.
Why is accessibility so hard to grasp? Hell, we are all just temporarily abled.
Without going into details, I have a file right now where a religious institution *refuses* to make a pair of public buildings accessible. "We don't have any of *those* people," the church lady said. Pushing this to resolution is almost certainly - at this point - going to be ugly, political, and may end up in court. Yeah.
It's tiresome. Draining at times. I don't get it.
But this weekend, in another jurisdiction, I had an experience worth sharing. Assembly occupancy - a theatre/performance venue. An individual with extensive mobility issues struggled to gain access to the venue. After the show, a "portable" ramp with a nasty slope and no handrails was the best the venue could do to assist her departure. The poor lady was stuck for about five minutes and finally gave up, and struggled - with obvious pain - to use the steps.
There was absolutely no reason this venue could not have made accessible. There was sufficient space at a side door to accommodate the slope of a ramp.
I had a little chat with the woman, told her what I did for a living, and offered my sympathy.
Why is accessibility so hard to grasp? Hell, we are all just temporarily abled.