The Access Abbotsford community forum left me considering whether awareness is a necessary and important part of the foundation on which you build a community. Leaving me mulling over the idea that part of being a good citizen is becoming aware, truly aware – not just thinking one is aware.
I used to see a curb cut at an intersection and assume that makes it accessible to wheelchairs etc. It turns out that is not necessarily true. Is the cut wide enough, positioned in the right place, flush with the street?
It was pointed out that that it does not matter how accessible the city is if you cannot get out of your home. The gentleman making this point lives on a bus route but unfortunately it is a bus route that not all the buses used for that route are wheelchair usable.
Thinking about this it occurs to me that partial accessibility is not really a viable or acceptable concept in making a community accessible to the disabled. The business or location destination being accessible and living on a bus route with wheelchair access does no good if it is not possible to get from the bus stop to you destination.
The City of Abbotsford needs to make accessibility a priority, in fact the priority in any situation that affects accessibility.
An example or three: Any development or redevelopment should be evaluated with respect to accessibility and be approved only when accessibility is maximized. Work such as that currently along South Fraser Way between Bourquin and Gladwin (a major area) needs to be evaluated and designed so that improving accessibility is part of the work to be performed. With something as simple as road repaving, what standards do we need to set for the work to ensure accessibility is maintained and enhanced?
A small difference between the new road surface and the concrete curb cut-out is a small step for me but a major barrier to a wheelchair. I heard today that John Van Dongen found out that these types of little discrepancies can dump you out of a wheelchair.
The City of Abbotsford needs to make accessibility and inclusion a priority not just in words but in deeds.
I believe that a major part of this requires consulting the disabled, seeking their advice and judgment, and then acting on that input. It is clear our focus and evaluation cannot be based upon what the standards or current practices are but upon what actually works. It was made obvious to me today that to achieve accessibility we cannot use standards set by people who do not have the expertise you only get by living with and experiencing the challenges the disabled face every day.
As citizens we need to increase our awareness (www.accessabbotsford.ca) and to instruct our Council and City Staff that accessibility takes precedence in their planning and decisions on any matter that will have, or if properly thought out can have, an effect on accessibility. That their actions must increase accessibility.