Rolling Traveler

Accessibility Ratings:
I decided to use a descriptive scale to rate the wheelchair accessibility of cities, buildings and services: it runs from Appalling to Excellent. The ratings are described in more detail below. Note that a place can get two accessibility ratings: one for manual chairs and a second one for motorized chairs. One of the main issues for a manual chair is whether someone with upper body mobility can get around on their own, while one of the main issues for a motorized chair is whether it can fit in the available space.

At least for now, I am focusing on rating wheelchair accessibility, as I am still gathering experience as to how to rate for other types of disability. The ratings for wheelchair accessibility can be a measure of how accessible a place is for a baby carriage, although there are obvious differences: one person can get a stroller down a short flight of steps, but a motorized wheelchair isn’t going to get down them even with two people helping!

The factors that I look at for a rating are slightly different for cities, for buildings and for services.
For cities and towns, I look at: topography; accessibility of major tourist attractions, public transport and municipal buildings; sidewalk width and condition; curb height; and location and number of accessible restrooms and other needed facilities.
For businesses, I look at: presence of access ramps if needed; weight of front doors; width of aisles; clutter; presence and state of accessible restroom in food service locations; height of counter; and helpfulness and awareness of staff. For tourist attractions, the position of posters and labels is also taken into account
For services, like public transport and information points, I look at general accessibility: can someone in a wheelchair use this service (get on the bus, reach the microphone)?

The Ratings

Excellent: There is no barrier to a wheelchair, and the facilities are all accessible to a wheelchair user, and clearly marked. If I give a place this rating, it means that someone with upper body mobility could get around completely unaided in a manual wheelchair, and a motorized wheelchair has the space to maneuver freely. It is rare for a place to get this rating.

Very Good: There is no barrier to a wheelchair, although there may be a minor inconvenience that is easily overcome: for example, in a restaurant, there may be a couple of tables that a wheelchair can’t fit at comfortably, or in a store, there may be a small step up to the front door. In a city, this rating means that help may be occasionally needed to get around. This rating also means that the facilities are all accessible, and the staff are very helpful.

Good: The place is accessible, and to someone who’s never used a wheelchair, it seems perfect. However, there may be a minor inconvenience that requires a little help to deal with: in a business, it’s usually something to do with the building and not in the management’s control; in a city, it’s usually something to do with the topography or the age of a district. Help is needed occasionally. The difference between a Good rating and a Very Good rating is the size of the inconvenience.

Satisfactory: The place is accessible, but there are inconveniences like the elevator being locked, or the accessible restroom being usable, but also used for storage. There’s enough accessibility that a wheelchair user can get in and get around, and use all the facilities, but there’s enough of a process involved that he or she is aware of a difficulty. Buying things in a store like this is a slower process; visiting a city like this is more tiring and requires more planning.

Getting There: This means that efforts have been made towards accessibility, but there’s still a lot to be done. For example: a store has put in an elevator to its upper floor, but there’s three steps up to the front door, and no ramp; a restaurant has a disabled access restroom, but there isn’t enough room to maneuver between the tables; the city is making efforts to adapt the curbs at crosswalks and install elevators to subways, but only in part of the city. Wheelchair users need friends to help them with some or most of the area, but the overall impression is that effort is being made and its more than just a token effort. I’ll give this rating to a business if the building is poorly accessible but the staff are really trying to compensate.

Poor: The place in question is poorly accessible, and there is little or no evidence of any change being made. There are barriers to free movement, few or no facilities for wheelchair users, and help is needed for most or all of the area.

Appalling: This rating means that there is no point in a wheelchair user going there. Even with help, there’s no way in or around, and there are no facilities that are accessible. There are still a lot of places that get this rating, even in major European cities.

Let me know how useful these ratings are for you, and whether you think I need to amend them in any way. I may amend them myself as I go along. I have also been known to throw in a rating that isn’t on the scale, but that speaks for itself: Say What?

Enjoyability and Quality Ratings:
I used the same Appalling-Poor-Getting There-Satisfactory-Good-Very Good-Excellent scale to rate the quality of a service or the overall enjoyment I got out of a tourist attraction. The meanings here are self-explanatory: if a restaurant gets a Good then the food and cleanliness are good enough to go back, but not good enough to take someone to for a treat. If a tourist attraction gets a Poor then it’s just a view or a building at the moment, with no background information, no care taken to keep it beautiful, and no facilities nearby.

Again, let me know if you have any comments about this ratings scale.

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