I'm able-bodied, but found myself assessing the access at the con a couple of times. (My original roommate was going to be Haddayr Copley-Woods, before she decided not to come, and she uses a wheelchair part time.) I compared it unfavorably to Wiscon, but VERY favorably to Convergence, which is the con local to me that's around the same size as WorldCon (they get about 6,000 people/year).
The fundamental problem is that when you want to accommodate 5,000 to 6,000 people, there's a limited number of hotel options. The Hyatt was at least designed for that many people, which gives it an advantage over the hotel Convergence is held at. (There simply AREN'T any hotels in the Twin Cities that are really big enough on their own for something like this.)
I would really like to come up with some elevator policies that basically say, "hey, if you're in an elevator going down and someone with a mobility problem needs to get on, people who can take the stairs need to GET OFF." The problem is that the elevator stops and opens only very briefly, and looking out, assessing people's mobility, and offering up one's spot is a pretty complex operation (not to mention, it doesn't do much for people whose disabilities aren't instantly visible). I mean, I could take the stairs, and did, at one point -- but coming down 22 floors left me with a pretty bad muscle strain (somewhat to my surprise) and it's not inherently unreasonable to want to take the elevator down even if you're not disabled.
I'm not sure how to solve this problem, but I would really like to -- not only for WorldCons, but for other cons with elevator crunches (which is to say, most cons).
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The fundamental problem is that when you want to accommodate 5,000 to 6,000 people, there's a limited number of hotel options. The Hyatt was at least designed for that many people, which gives it an advantage over the hotel Convergence is held at. (There simply AREN'T any hotels in the Twin Cities that are really big enough on their own for something like this.)
I would really like to come up with some elevator policies that basically say, "hey, if you're in an elevator going down and someone with a mobility problem needs to get on, people who can take the stairs need to GET OFF." The problem is that the elevator stops and opens only very briefly, and looking out, assessing people's mobility, and offering up one's spot is a pretty complex operation (not to mention, it doesn't do much for people whose disabilities aren't instantly visible). I mean, I could take the stairs, and did, at one point -- but coming down 22 floors left me with a pretty bad muscle strain (somewhat to my surprise) and it's not inherently unreasonable to want to take the elevator down even if you're not disabled.
I'm not sure how to solve this problem, but I would really like to -- not only for WorldCons, but for other cons with elevator crunches (which is to say, most cons).