Video: Moving On: Accessible Transport

Many thanks to all who came and made it such a successful day. Please send in comments to info@connectculture.co.uk

Description of video

Eleanor Lisney, MOAT coordinator, is interviewed by a young journalism student. “We’re organising this event for Moving On Accessible Transport – the Past, the Present and the Future.”

Black and white photograph panels of mobility vehicles and people using them from the past displayed.

A disabled man in an electric wheelchair is looking at the three wheeled mobility vehicle in front of a display of black and white panels in the background.

Young disabled woman in an electric wheelchair looking at trabasacks on Trabasack stall with others.

Connect Culture display banner shown ‘Connect culture is about building an inclusive world, bringing people and cultures together’  with URLs –  http://www.connectculture.co.uk and Assess4Access http://assess4access.connectculture.co.uk/. Clips of visitors milling around the exhibition area. Family with young children looking at mobility vehicles from the past.

Clip of delegates (including a row of young Chinese students) in a conference room listening to Richard Rieser, leading a seminar on Disability History Month.

Clip of speakers at the Round Table discussion – Eleanor Lisney, Kirsten Hearn, Zara Todd, Richard Rieser, Andree Woodcock, Rob Imrie, Christiane Link and participants, Robert Punton, Rita Norman  discussing issues raised from the floor. Clip of Connect Culture members Sarah Rennie, Emma Round and Eleanor Lisney (wheelchair users) in conversation.

End

Video: Prize winners with an accessible transport solution

Video of the young prize winners receiving their prizes ( 2 first class train tickets from Virgin Trains and a trabasack each) and about how they made their video.

Winners with video Bus Timetable Dyslexia:

Alex Clarke
Ahmed Saidani
Joel McCormack
Areqa Nisa
Kyle Thornton
Jake Ashby
Ben Russell
Yahya Patel

This is a report from Goldsmiths University of London, Universalising Design of their video

One of the winning videos dealt with the challenges that a dyslexic person might face when engaging with poorly designed bus stop signage. The video also offered a useful inclusive design solution in the form of a touchscreen device attached to the bus stop.

Prize delivered to happy young winners of the Moving On video competition

the winners

They were too overwhelmed to pick up the prize at the museum in the day itself, we were more than happy to deliver their 2 first class Virgin train tickets and trabasacks at their school.

The winners were

Alex Clarke
Ahmed Saidani
Joel McCormack
Areqa Nisa
Kyle Thornton
Jake Ashby
Ben Russell
Yahya Patel

Their teacher, Charlie Davies, the ICT coordinator was very proud of them and said they had a lot of design ideas between them.

This is a report from Goldsmiths University of London, Universalising Design of their video

One of the winning videos dealt with the challenges that a dyslexic person might face when engaging with poorly designed bus stop signage. The video also offered a useful inclusive design solution in the form of a touchscreen device attached to the bus stop.

Bus Timetable Dyslexia from Sherbourne Fields on Vimeo.

At the World Travel Market for the ‘The Future of Tourism is Barrier Free’ presentation

Presentation by Klaus Lohmann, Director of the German National Tourist Office UK & Ireland

I was lucky enough to  catch  ‘The Future of Tourism is Barrier Free’ presentation hosted by the German Tourist Board at the World Travel Market. Great to meet friends such as Alan Thomas from Wales, and  online friends such as Alan Broadbent from Barcelona. Together we sampled the offered German aperitifs .

German canapes

We listened to a great presentation of the Barrier Free destinations in Germany and a business case reason for accessible tourism (growing market due to the numbers of older travellers, ‘disabled by age’ – an overlooked audience) by Tom Jamison, editor of the Able magazine. While it is good that Germany has certain areas marked out now as barrier free destinations, I somehow feel that they are still marked out segregated areas. But it was fair to say they did acknowledge this issue,  it was a start and they hope to expand the accessibility to more areas.

My question was that disabled travellers’ needs are all so diverse – there is no ‘one size fits all’ – how can they make it barrier free for all? on top of that no disabled people want to be in a hospital type environment when they go on holiday and single travellers like me tend not to book through a tour operator while still expecting accessible amenities. Yes, universal design is the answer!

Our hosts were disappointed that the TWM award for the best  destination for accessible travel went to Visit Flanders.

It was good to listen to the Q&A session but I had a question I wanted to add – the added barriers as a lone female disabled traveller. I raised that question with Tom. Perhaps that question need to be included in the future?

It might not fit in neatly into accessibility theme. However, as a woman traveller when I do research on accomodation,  I need to check along with accessibility, the safety issue? I remember staying in an accessible hotel near the conference center in Dublin but it was a dodgy area, the restaurant/bar area was full of non residents there for the pool table. It was suggested that some of them were obviously high.

It should not be assumed that disabled travellers need hotel rooms/facilities for holidays – yes of course there are disabled tourists. But like non disabled people we often add on holidays after business trips. Recently I went to Geneva for a UN event, I was not able to stay with the other members of the group because they booked at a non accessible hotel. I had realised that it might not be a good idea to wander about the streets of Geneva on my own so I managed to persuade a friend to come as a personal assistant with me.  But it is very rare to find information on such issues. Is this a hotel mainly for business travellers – full of men in business suits  which might prove to be intimidating for any woman to dine alone? Staff can be patronising and think you should have a ‘carer’ with you. There is an extra layer of vulnerability and also adds to the research list when you’re a disabled woman. And disabled men who are usually chosen to do the access audits do not even consider these issues.

I am lucky in that I have travelled as much, having lived in four countries in three continents with as many languages and cultures,  but it didnt take me long to realise that most people who work in the accessible travel field are men. This is fine but they seldom take the consideration the extra barriers that disabled women have as travellers. The physiological differences between men and women make it easier for men on the toileting issue – this alone mean that the man has a distinct advantage over the woman. This struck me hard when I went with a man friend to Texas. All he needed was a blanket and his personal assistant took his bottle for him to the toilet while I did not have that choice. This sole difference impacts  on my choice of travel destinations and I am reluctant to take a flight which lasts more than 5 hours.

Barrier free travel is an aspiration for us all. It is good that the travel industry is starting to take note and that many of us do not want to be herded into special tours. Having inclusive public transport would be a start – I would like to take the Eurostar and wander across Europe with a rail pass as other non disabled people do.

accessible tram in Strasbourg

And of course I mentioned the Moving On: Accessible Transport – the past, present and the future and was cheeky enought to suggest our German hosts to offer a prize for the video competition for young people and am very pleased to announce that they have offered a selection of German wines – which we will offer to all those not so young people who wanted to have a go at the challenge!

Poster for the Video Challenge

SHOOT!

WITH YOUR MOBILE PHONE

WANTED:

YOUR OPINIONS, IDEAS & DREAMS about independent living and public transport

REWARDS:

v  Learn how to make a simple, cheap and very effective promotional tool

v  Your Video screened at Coventry Transport Museum, Coventry University and Colleges

v  1 Week accessible accommodation in France for 4

v  Trabasack – state of the art travel gear

v  And other goodies!

WHAT DO I NEED?

v  Your opinions, your ideas and dreams on how transport can help you live your life independently.

v  You can show us anything from public transport to virtual travel ;-)!

HOW CAN I ENTER?

v  Go to http://moat2013.org.uk/video-challenge/

v  Find tutorials and tips, or contact us for more help

WHO CAN ENTER?

v  Disabled people under the age of 26

v  You can make the video on your own, or you can do it together, as long as a young disabled person is in charge

WHEN IS THE DEADLINE?

v  Send a link to your video before 15 November to info@connectculture.co.uk

Washington DC: tech@lead museum accessibility and access in the city! Part 2.

Before I went to Washington DC, I stumbled onto this article by Reid Davenport ‘Traveling with a disability in Europe’.
According to him, Europe is inaccessible in comparison with the USA. I am not disputingthat many cities in Europe are largely inaccessible,  however, I would suggest that it is extremely important to do sufficient research before setting off wherever you ‘re going. London underground is inaccessible and disabled community has campaigned and continue to campaign on access. Having said that, we have accessible taxis (black cabs ) on the streets and the city is criss crossed with accessible buses (transport information on Transport for London which helps to navigate travel for all). There are alternatives to using the tube. Reid did not have to use the underground.

on the Metro

However, if you came from Washington DC, it is easy to understand why you would gravitate to the underground for travelling in the city. With an accessible Metro, it is easy to navigate public transport. I have been to Washington twice before many years ago – as a tourist visiting a friend and later, as a library student on a pilgrimage to the Library of Congress. I remember being ecstatic about being able to use the underground. But this time I wanted to experience alternative forms of moving around. I love buses – you can see where you re going on a bus and it gives you an overview of the city. Buses are also usually cheaper and here, these buses have room for 2 wheelchair users. It didnt take me long to figure that buses 32 and 36 and they both get near the Smithsonian. I asked the bus driver and got off at the Archives when I tried it. Best of all, I found

Priority seating

out that the Bus 5A took you to Dulles Airport for $6 and $3 with a disabled person’s concession. It cost me $70 taxifare on arrival to get to my hotel from the airport. I also found the bus drivers very friendly and helpful. In fact I can say that all the transport staff were courteous and helpful to this ignorant tourist. I was always asking questions and directions. There was this amazing Metro man who helped me immensely when I panicked at L’Enfant Plaza Metro station – on my way back to the airport to go back to the UK, the lift/elevator stopped working. There was no other way to get out – another reason I m not keen on using the undergound. I explained to him I had a bus to catch to the airport, whereby he told me I should get to Rosslyn and catch up with the bus there. I had no idea what he was on about but he had such confidence that I thought I should trust in his directions and yes, he was right, when I got to Rosslyn I caught up with the same bus to Dulles!

Signage is not obvious in this city, it might be me but I sat at the square at the Foggy Bottom Metro lift/elevator to have snacks 2 days before I figured out that it was actually the lift to access the underground. It was right at the George Washington University Hospital and I had thought it was one of the accessible entrances to the hospital -right next to the canteen! At pelican crossings, some had audio and tactile signals but most did not seem to. There was no buttons you can push. And if you did not knowwhere the access lifts were it can be problematic. They were not always next to the main Metro stations.

I had lunch with the fabulous  Stephanie Ortoleva, the Founder and President of Women Enabled, Inc and her husband Frank at Bayou across the street from the Melrose and we exchanged much about our advocacy work. They do not seem to have Access to Work or ‘resonable adjustments‘ equivalents over there. For all the ADA legislation there, Bayou did not have an accessible toilet. I found that surprising.

Lunch with Stephanie

Washington DC: tech@lead museum accessibility and access in the city!

Crossing the street on the National Mall in Washington DC

I was lucky enough to be invited (as from Connect Culture)  to Tech@Lead, ‘a pilot event that will bring together diverse experts and practitioners from a variety of fields, including the arts, education, design, exhibition, media, electronic and information technology, online experiences and mobile and portable device development and manufacture – all to advance the development and application of innovative technologies that support the inclusion of people with disabilities in the cultural life of our world.’ It was held at the Kennedy Center in collaboration with the Carl and Ruth Shapiro National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH and the Smithsonian Institution.

The conference was amazing and energising in having so many leading people in the fields of design, art, technology, museums, and gaming who created a focused conversation at how we can work together to make art of all forms accessible to the disabled community. People like Sina Bahram whom I found effervesent in his enthusiam for technological solutions, Nancy Proctor an inspiration from the Smithsonian and Museums and the Web, Halsey Burgund who excited me with his audio art and many others. I tried Google Glass and ByteLight and thought I saw a glimpse into the future.

Sina Bahram and Neal Stimler demonstrating Google Glass

Thanks to Nancy I was also invited to the Smithsonian event the next day. As the Americans say – it was awesome! I was able to talk about the paper we contributed in the July 2013 special issue on accessibility of Curator Journal. These discussions gave me new ideas and inspiration for the Moving On Accessible Transport event we ‘re holding in November at the Coventry Transport Museum. It’s turning to be an international event because Scott Rains   (world traveller and universal design evangelist) will be able to join us and Christiane Link who will be speaking about German transport.

The tech@lead conference was only for the day but I stayed for longer than that to give myself a chance to get over the jet lag which I knew would hit me from previous experience. But here, I would like to talk a bit about the access in Washington DC – to give an idea to others who would like to visit or who will be visiting the city.

First of all, I stayed at 2 different hotels – both at Foggy Bottom, the George Washington University Inn and the Melrose. The GWU Inn is a boutique hotel, I loved the townhouses in this neighbourhood.  The accessible entrance is at the back and the room is comfortable (with 2 double beds!) and it even has its own coffee maker, microwave and fridge. The bathroom was spacious however, the toilet is very low and it is a bath and not a roll in shower. They do provide a bathseat which I found sturdy and I didnt have any problems transferring. (Would be much better with a helper). If I had any complaints it would be that each light and lamp need to be individually switched off, there was no central switch – which can be problematic if you cannot quite reach the appliances in question. I found the staff attentive and helpful (especially a woman named Vanessa).  It was also useful that they had a nice cosy restaurant on the premises.

I had to switch hotels because there were no accessible room available for me after the weekend. The Melrose was about 5 minutes away. Its a much bigger hotel and to get to the lifts, there was a platform lift . However obliging the staff were, there were quite a few times I had to wait for them to clear the trolley out to work it for me. I really like the shower room though. It was cosy and felt ‘safe’. However, I think the bathroom floor had a slippery surface.

If I were to complain it was that staff were less attentive – an engineer which was supposed to come did not turn up – my television did not work properly. (and there was only children’s HBO anyway so maybe it was not such a great loss). However lights flashed when the doorbell rang – so I would have been alerted if I was deaf. There was no microwave. I found both Trader Joe and Wholefood Supermarket close by – so a microwave would have been handy.

Foggy Bottom Metro station

(to be continued)

Accessing a City’s full potential

An interesting report from PFD Media – read at Cities Today March 2013 P.15 – 16. Accessibility is not just for wheelchair users but equally important is good information and communication, signage and innovation. Universal design really for sustainable growth in a city.

Assess 4 Access Project finished!

Connect Culture is very happy to have Big Lottery closed the Awards for All grant for this project. The website will continue and we will continue updating and listing on new accessible restaurants and eating places in the region. Please continue sending us suggestions!

Newest listings for Coventry are at http://assess4access.connectculture.co.uk/covrestaurants.php

Finally mobility scooters on buses allowed

Buses at Coventry

On Tuesday I was at an Access Development Group meeting at the Coventry Council House discussing transport for disabled people in Coventry – bus transport specifically. And there was the question about scooters on buses..

Today Ricability, national research charity dedicated to providing independent information of value to disabled and older consumers,  has published a consumer report ‘Can I travel on my mobility scooter on the bus?’

You should be able to take your scooter on the bus if:

• your local bus company is running a scooter permit scheme
• your scooter meets certain specifications and size limits, and
• the bus company has trained and assessed you in safely using your scooter on the bus.

The permit scheme has been developed by the Confederation for Passenger Transport (CPT). If your bus company has signed up to the scheme, they will be issuing credit-card sized permits (see picture) which can be shown to the driver.

For list of buses – in Coventry and Warwickshire we have Stagecoach and National Express, De Courcey is not on the list but ‘if your local bus operator is not on the list, try asking them about the CPT scheme – they may be willing to accept a permit that’s been issued to you by another bus operator.’
Read more about the scheme at the Ricability website and also the Summary Table with the list of permitted scooters.