Undisabling -- Maintaining Accessability

Getting Rid of Unnecessary Barriers

Their are probably many barriers that people simply do not think about and would not until they are faced by them. Perhaps they note them as being a nuisance if they are able bodied and grumble a bit, but they don't consider how much of a barrier they might be to someone who is not able bodied.

Disabled need not mean a person is in a wheelchair either -- it need not even be something that is long term -- except perhaps for the determination of some benefits from government bodies or insurance companies. Some things are pretty obvious: a set of stairs with no reasonable alternate route to access some facility or place; a narrow doorway or passage; an exceptionally rough patch of rocky path or walkway; and others that you can probably add to this list yourself. There are some people who do sports in wheelchairs for sure, and can nearly climb stairs in them -- they can climb simple curbs, I have seen.

But getting on to the less obvious things.

...like the wheelchair symbol to the right of the rather imposing doors... (image to right - image from Image*After)

I know someone who has problems getting around. She uses a mobility scooter for anything outside the apartment. The building has an elevator and the rear door exits to the parking area under the building. The parking is open on one side and there is easy, fairly open access to the lane behind the building. Luckily there is a shopping centre that is fairly well lit there so that it isn't too much like going into a scary dungeon at night and onto a dark alley.

I was surprised to hear that my friend didn't use the bus stop that is just across the street from that shopping centre. Metro Vancouver is pretty progressive and has been replacing nearly 100% of its fleet with low floor buses that can kneel. (image to left - image from buses world news) But why did my friend travel 1 km to the next stop? At the stop close to her building she told me; there was no room between the curb and a steep drop-off into a parking lot adjacent the stop for her to manoeuvre her scooter onto the ramp into the bus! Perhaps a chair with a near zero turning radius could do the manoeuvre simply, or maybe a smaller scooter. But this my friend could not use a smaller scooter.

When they set up the stops for Translink's buses there were no considerations for wheel chair ramps. They placed the stop well up the hill from the controlled intersection to avoid the driveways, and this placed the stop adjacent to a sharp drop-off into a parking lot. I told my friend that she should make sure to talk to the drivers about the problem and perhaps email or telephone the transit company to tell them the situation. The 1km distance might sound excessive, but it is an express bus with limited stops. I took it upon myself to write to Translink as they are open to such things and have people whose job is to listen to such problems and try find solutions. Since then, I have heard that the solution is that the bus merely pulls up about 4 feet further along the street where there is more room for someone to manoeuvre onto the extended ramp.

Recently I was invited to an open house for the development of a new shopping centre. I asked -- with regards to their landscaping on the sidewalk and boulevard -- if they had taken into account such things as room for people to manoeuvre scooters and wheelchairs in and out of the buses that would be stopping outside their centre. This was important to them actually because the anchor for the shopping centre was a major pharmacy chain. They wanted to draw customers who would likely include many who would be using chairs, scooters, walkers and similar aids on the transit system.

(image of Translink bus to right from buses world news)

With all the new construction going on, it can be difficult for any pedestrian to get around. It seems that many concessions are made for getting motor vehicle traffic through the construction zones -- but little is done for the pedestrian and great hurdles might be set into place for anyone who is not able.

This can include simple issues such as doubling the distance someone has to walk on their travels. (image to left from Image*After) This can simply be the closing of a sidewalk on one side of the road blocking it for 9 metres (30 ft approx) so that a person has to backtrack to a crosswalk cross the street, travel a block or two to the next crosswalk and then walk back. With some longish blocks and streets that are just too busy to cross at uncontrolled intersections, this can add up substantially. Such a diversion would not mean very much for a driver, but heavy metal plates might be placed over excavations so that they could be driven over. I have also seen construction debris cover half of sidewalks making them impassible except for people who are light of foot.

Many people do not realize just how impeding ice and snow (or even rain soaked leaves) can be if they do not clean their walks. A narrow swept path can still be impassible for someone in a chair or scooter. Ice and snow might be far to dangerous for someone with brittle bones even if they do walk with only a walking stick. A person with balance problems or lack of feeling in the feet can have great problems on snow. Even if the sidewalks are clear, the city and province have this nasty habit of plowing snow up against the curb making a person have to climb over it to reach the street at intersections in order to cross.

A lot of these barriers could be dealt with simply, without having to change the infrastructure much. Simply being aware and actually clearing snow, planning a bit, and remembering that some people rely on wheels... even babies in carriages -- and you don't want to force them out into traffic or to have to travel a kilometre past the closest bus stop..

Later!
~ Darrell

128.

Live or Photoshop

Only the Photographer Knows for Sure

I have frustratingly discovered when surfing the web and finding interesting photographic images with places for comment that more and more frequently someone will make the comment, "It’s Photoshop!!!". They will do so showing conviction as if no more need be said and that by only saying so few words what they say will carry great weight.

There are a great many masterfully modified images on the world wide web. I know, I am versed in doing photo editing and modifications or "faking" as it is known in some circles. It can be as little as fixing the contrast and brightness on a photo to make up for bad exposure and lighting in the original. It can be as much as removing an offending telephone pole from an otherwise perfect picnic picture... or ex-boyfriend from a family photo. If you do it properly, nobody should know you did anything.

But, when people cry "It's Photoshop!!!" at the drop of a hat, it insults some great or very lucky photographers who have managed to catch something unusual enough that it is hard to believe or that someone doesn't want to believe... or that it isn't politcally appropriate to believe.

What brought me to bring this up was looking at this interesting photo on "8in.org". (image below -- image from 8in.org)

The image is a composition apparently from Beijing during the current 2008 Summer Olympic Games. The title of the image is "Beijing Olympics, One World, One Dream... This Is Sad [PIC]". There are a number of comments to the photo and I think perhaps I have seen it elsewhere. It was posted Saturday, August 9th 2008 -- a week ago.

Personally I do not think it is "Photoshopped". I could be wrong of course, but I think that it is just a good piece of photographic composition. I also think there is some sadness to it, but not necessarily the great sadness or travesty that some see -- at least not directly from the picture.

I watched some documentaries on Canadian News -- I believe on the CBC -- about preparations for the Olympics and the future. One of the things being done for the Olympics was the preparation of the routes to be taken by the long distance races -- the Marathons and Cycling events including Triathlon and the like. Businesses which were deemed unseemly were hidden behind screens which would hide them from view of cameras. In some places houses have been taken down and I recall that a buffer zone of freshly laid sod and shrubbery was laid down their on the now vacant lots with screening fencing behind to hide the now being renovated districts behind. I am assuming that this image was taken in one of those later districts. the grass on the left being some of that fresh turf and the bricks on the right left over from some of the demolition.

Part of the issues involved had to do with how fair the settlements were with the people being evicted. They were paid for their property -- or were supposed to. According to the news report there were some issues of corruption which made it difficult for some of the people to protest to low a settlement. The people were being relocated to apartments on the other side of the city. Often they felt they were being spread too far from their friends and extended families.

The image though is one that could be taken in very many cities in very many countries where older neighbourhoods are being demolished to put up higher density housing -- which is worth more and probably costs more to live in. East or West; First World or Third World -- facades are put up to hide what is deemed unseemly. How many scrapyards do you know without a 2 - 4 metre tall white fence surrounding it. True it is for security, but it is also a facade that hides the mess. It is done in other places too. I know that often for construction they put peepholes in for people to have a peep into the site to see what is going up... but the fencing around a major construction site also hides the mess.

Cities also put fences like this around things when there are major events... it isn't just some place like Beijing.

But that photo... it is just the words on the sign and the worlds apart it seems between the Olympic ideal clean road and the messy slightly run down look of the poor neighbourhood right beside.

Is the image "Photoshopped"? Click on it to go to 8in.org to see the original and decide for yourself. I think that if it was "Photoshopped" it was only to perhaps brighten the colours or something of that nature and adjust the size. I think it is just an example of a good photographer capturing the moment.

Later!
~ Darrell

119.