One of my friends recently visited a place which boasted of having an accessible washroom. An enthusiastic accessibility consultant, she was enthused to hear about it and went on it to see it herself.
The following was her post on Facebook:
“I don’t know whether to cry or laugh. Rest room designed for a wheel chair user has toilet flush at 5 feet height. Basic usability stuff :(“
At times, this is what it is. People understand accessibility as a set of rules and guidelines to be adhered to and miss the whole point of what it is basically usable or not, what is accessibility meant to do.
Accessibility starts with usability for anyone with or without disabilities with minimal intervention from others. More so in the case of rest rooms which are meant to be spaces of privacy for anyone. Overlook of such fundamental features in these places make us realize the importance of implementation over and above the designing of principles and guidelines which we can and and which we do in abundance.