Hi Jim,
yes very interesting.
on the subject of physical barriers in the built environment I'd like to
tell you a bit about project SURFACE, a EPSRC funded research here at
Salford University England looking at these barriers and the best ways to
illiminate them, considering the needs and desires of both users and
designers. While this is mainly in the context of the Disability
Discrimination act part III which comes in to effect in the year 2004 we
are interested in all aspects of disabling barriers.
anyone interested in this subject can discuss it in more detail on the
accessibuilt mailing list which can be subscribed to in the usual way (by
navigating to http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/ and following to "accessibuilt").
As for the second part of your message, I find this interesting on a more
personal level as my PHD is examining disability legislation in the built
environment sector, its effective use, and international comparisons of
legislative approaches.
incidences such as that which you describe obviously undermine any attempt
at legislation and is something I shall look in to further.
At 13:48 21/11/99 -0500, you wrote:
>I realise that, on this list, the equation
>"Impairment + Barriers = Disability"
>that "Barriers" tends to mean attitudes (+ semantics), and actions (or
>lack; like not funding a service) But a few of us on the list (and some
>of us, are even "out" about it!) are also interested in "barriers" of
>the kind that don't need hyper-theorization: The concrete kind.
>
>New York City has a huge subway system. One must be able to climb
>endless steps, to use nearly all of it. (This locks out -- not only
>wheelchair users, but many many others.) Efforts to get it made fully
>accessible (to make a very long story short) have almost totally failed.
>(And the alternative "Access-A-Ride" system, is an absolute horror
>show. Only the public busses are generally accessible; which can take
>twice as long as a subway ride, and of course require much waiting,
>outside, in the rain & snow.)
>
>I happened to pick up a 1984 trash novel:
>"MAYOR, AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY", by EDWARD I. KOCH. Well, it's supposed to be
>"Non-Fiction", but...
>
>Page 308:
>(Meeting between New York City Mayor Ed Koch and President Ronald
>Reagan, in the early 1980's)
>
>QUOTE:
>
>"Then I (Koch) said, "The other issue I wanted to discuss with you was
>the mandates.* " (His footnote: The 504 mandate requires localities to
>make mass-transit facilities equally accessible to the handicapped.) He
>(the president) said" Oh, I have good news for you there too. WE ARE
>GOING TO ADMINISTRATIVELY, if possible, and legislatively if required,
>END YOUR NEED TO RETROFIT THE SUBWAYS..... (My emphasis.)...
> I said, "Mr. President, that is wonderful. OUR FIGURES INDICATE
>THAT ENDING THE 504 MANDATE WILL SAVE US THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS
>ANNUALLY..."
>
>(504 was a set of long-awaited regulations, from a U.S. federal law of
>the 1970's. It's the reason why Washington, DC's own new subway system
>was built accessibly, though its original design was intended to be not
>accessible.)
>
>Quote is from p. 308, of the 1985 paperback edition from Warner Books,
>New York.)
>
>It is interesting that this politically very skilled Democratic Party
>(if not exactly "liberal") Mayor (he won three 4-year terms)..... in
>the mid-80's.... felt NO political need to conceal this sleazy little
>collusion with an ultra-conservative President, to violate people with
>disabilities'' human rights, at all.
>
>He just comes right out and says it, in his own self-serving "spin
>control" book!
>
>Nowadays, a NYC politician would feel some need to cover that up, or
>"spin" it, or lie about it. It's interesting that one doesn't have to
>go back more than 15 years, to find this kind of evidence, "(not from a
>"conservative", but from a politician who had a very solid "liberal",
>reputation as a Congress Member, before running for Mayor)...."right out
>in the open". Diabled rights activism in New York City, was about a
>decade old when this book came out, but apparently Koch still did not
>fel the need to sweep this sordid little conversation, under the rug.
>
>
>
Adrian Higginbotham:
S U R F A C E
Salford University, Research Focus on Accessible Environments.
tel> 0161 2954939.
if a pig looses his voice is he disgruntled?
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