I'm able-bodied and the amount of fail I noticed about Access at this year's WorldCon was ridiculous, especially given the large number of folks that need Access. It was yet another list of things to add to the fail list, so I wasn't really surprised, which is sad. It definitely made me miss WisCon and made me realize just how spoiled I am to be part of a community that actually cares about its members and puts its money where its mouth is in terms of making Access a priority for all.
It felt weird to go to panels and not see blue tape on the chairs in the front row, strange to not have parking spaces for scooters, rude not to have signs reminding folks to take the stairs instead of the elevator when possible. During one panel in the room with stairs, I got up to shut the door because the hallway was noisy, and there was a woman in a scooter at the bottom of the stairs, trying to hear the panel, so we left the door open. I was so furious that this poor woman had to sit outside. It just felt wrong. Access was framed as Disability Services, hence no one but Disabled people (you know, those people) needed to worry about it. Ugh.
I did mention this to Disability Services directly, and I brought it up on the Fandom's Blind Spots panel, but given the Worldcon culture, I am not holding out any hope for a WisCon-like atmosphere any time soon, although I hear London is taking this seriously for 2013. We'll see.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 03:35 pm (UTC)It felt weird to go to panels and not see blue tape on the chairs in the front row, strange to not have parking spaces for scooters, rude not to have signs reminding folks to take the stairs instead of the elevator when possible. During one panel in the room with stairs, I got up to shut the door because the hallway was noisy, and there was a woman in a scooter at the bottom of the stairs, trying to hear the panel, so we left the door open. I was so furious that this poor woman had to sit outside. It just felt wrong. Access was framed as Disability Services, hence no one but Disabled people (you know, those people) needed to worry about it. Ugh.
I did mention this to Disability Services directly, and I brought it up on the Fandom's Blind Spots panel, but given the Worldcon culture, I am not holding out any hope for a WisCon-like atmosphere any time soon, although I hear London is taking this seriously for 2013. We'll see.