Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the ADA and despite the vocal opinions of some ignorant fools, the Americans with Disabilities Act continues to improve life for people with disabilities. But there is still a long road ahead to change the attitudes and practices that deny access to people with disabilities.
Here are some example of comments that I hear in my day to day work as an accessibility specialist:
“We couldn’t hire a person with a disability.”
“People in wheelchairs never come here.”
“A handicapped person couldn’t do this job.”
“We don’t have to comply.”
“Now my building discriminates against everyone else.”
And then there is this picture that I took this morning. Presumably, they were having a big party to celebrate the ADA 20th Anniversary at this bar and decided to put the stage on top of the accessible parking to make it easier for the wheelchair users to find. Of course this is located in an area of town that is very short on parking in the evenings, so they wouldn’t want to block any of those “useful” parking spaces.
Temporary stage blocks the only accessible parking.
