Not Accessible - Tumblr Posts

Why the fuck does this dmv not have chairs (i know some dmvs do but in my experience they only gave them to seniors and people with children and those with visible disabilities and I don’t bring my mobility aids cause I’m worried probably for no reason of being some kind of denied or poorly treated or something idk ). I have been standing for an hour and I am in pain but I know if I sit on the ground I probably won’t be able to get up. gahhhh. also the accessible entrance is literally so far from the main entrance like wtf. Also also it’s hot in here cause if so many goddamn people

Why are spaces that are meant to accommodate so many different types of people so damn inaccessible

Long ass post incoming:

Okay so generally speaking my university’s campus is relatively accessible on first glance and new buildings are in theory ADA compliant and they’re working on the older buildings which is more than can be said for a lot of campuses or even places in general. A lot (but not all) of the professors are respectful of accommodations and do their best to accommodate all students as best as they can however there is still a lot they could do but either don’t know they can or outright refuse to do.

However, it is still very inaccessible!

Elevators frequently break and can take days or weeks to be fixed they’re also really annoying and often hard to find because they’re not labeled very well not to mention they’re slow as fuck, ramps are slightly too steep (super hilly campus too), shuttles are available but frequently run late or are excessively full and only run to a certain time so if you need to get somewhere on our giant campus past a certain time you’re fucked, sure there’s mobility services you can access but you need to schedule pickups ahead of time so you can’t really do anything spontaneously and there’s not many of them so if you need it the same time as someone else you’re fucked, so many doors that are supposedly automatic are broken, a building may have an automatic entrance but if you need to get into a classroom or lecture hall the doors are wickedly heavy, some lecture halls have auto doors at the top of the hall but not at the bottom where someone with a wheelchair could actually get into the room, and that’s just to name some of the accommodations for physical mobility impacting disabilities.

When it comes to other disabilities the campus and specifically lectures can be inaccessible too. For example some professors refuse to use their microphones in large lecture halls because they feel their voice is “loud enough” but that makes it even harder for students who have hearing impairments or auditory processing issues, often times professors use many colors on their lecture slideshows and that can make it difficult for students with colorblind ness or students with other visual impairments or for students with visual processing problems, when COVID-19 was still deemed to be a thing worth worrying about lectures were “podcasted” or recorded in classroom or on zoom so that they could be accessed remotely but now many professors refuse to record their lectures because they cannot be bothered to just push a simple button which leaves students who can’t safely come to campus unable to access their education or students who are sick without that same access and students who even if they can make it to lecture cannot process everything in it for a whole lot of other reasons unable to access their education the ability to do this when Covid was still of public concern (1) just shows that we can still do it and honestly still should(2), additionally many lecture halls are full of distractions and noises and so much else that make them inaccessible to people with cognitive/mental disabilities and mental illnesses, and that’s not just the case lecture halls but also in dining halls and gyms and even just outside can be extremely overwhelming and overstimulating for many many people.

(1) which mind you it still should be we are still suffering as a society from a virus that is incredibly deadly and saying that it only kills those with underlying conditions and what not is ableist as fuck

(2)For example we don’t really turn in printed out copies of essays or assignments for hand grading anymore we turn them in online because that’s easier and with technology the way classes are run has changed so why hasn’t it changed with COVID??

In general I am thankful that the campus is relatively “accessible” but it still needs hella work. Sure not everyone can be accommodated completely by an institution or even by other people but there certainly are things that are very easy changes that can be made and there is stuff that we can do to accommodate ourselves and we cannot put the burden of accommodation solely on others we know ourselves the best and thus can figure out what accommodations we need from ourselves and others.

Overall the world is super inaccessible and we NEED to do better than we are doing now both abled and disabled people alike need to work together to make everything a better more accessible for as many people as possible

TL:DR

University campuses are super inaccessible to all disabilities and there is so much that needs to change and that can easily be done and it’s absurd that we aren’t doing it. Colleges and universities and professors and even students need to do better so that everyone can feel welcome and accommodated and safe to learn