November 1, 2001

Accessibility standards get mixed reviews

By Stacie Baillie
sbaillie@uwo.ca

Blind since she was 3 1/2 years old, Nichola Johannisen sits in the University of Western Ontario's music building with her guide dog Sumac resting at her feet, talking about what the city should change to help disabled people.

Photo by Stacie Baillie

Nichola Johannisen, with her guide dog Sumac, thinks that the city could do more to help disabled people.

Something as simple as crossing the street is not easy for Johannisen, a second year music student. Without beeping crosswalk signals, Johannisen must rely on Sumac, her other senses and the help of others to get across the street.

"Some of the most challenging crossings, they need beeper signals," she said. But she recognizes that creating awareness is the most important change that must take place. "The city should try to make people aware that there are blind people out there, and they may be a minority, but that doesn't mean you can just ignore them and not do anything to help them."

Last month the city introduced new accessibility standards for its buildings, covering such areas as room to manoeuvre wheelchairs and walkers in hallways, washrooms, elevators and parking spaces. They will also reflect the needs of the hearing impaired and blind communities, with unobstructed pathways, warning surfaces to indicate a danger ahead, Braille, text telephones and visual alarms.

The standards will be mandatory for all new or renovated city owned and operated buildings. Currently buildings follow the Ontario building code. The new standards spell out the materials and specifications to be used in construction projects to make them accessible.

But while many in London appreciate the efforts of the city, some believe that these changes do not go far enough. Jack Nutt says that the changes are important, but he has concerns that they won't be applied to private buildings.

After 42 years in a wheelchair Nutt is used to poor accessibility, so new recommendations are seen as a matter of convenience. "You have to remember, I come from a time where there were no cut down curbs, no electric doors or ramps. So things are great now by comparison," he says, sitting in his northwest London apartment.

After retiring from the Ministry of Health in 1994 he moved back to London to be near his family. His biggest challenge has been finding accessible housing. When he moved to London, Nutt drove for five hours from Kingston in a snowstorm to see an apartment he had been assured was accessible. But when he got there he saw five steps leading to the elevator from the underground parking lot. "Five steps might as well be a whole flight for someone in a wheelchair. I didn't think I was going to get to move until my brother in law went from building to building interviewing managers and measuring doors and he found this one," he said. "This building was made accessible by accident 38 years ago, so it can be done."

He worries that if the city isn't addressing the need for private owners to make their buildings accessible, the problem will continue.

But city hall officials say that while private buildings cannot be regulated under the Municipal Act, provincial officials were present at some of the committee meetings in which the standards were discussed and they have received a copy of the recommendations.

PUSH Southwest, an advocacy group fighting for greater accessibility, is excited by the new standards, says spokesperson Bonnie Quesnel, herself confined to a wheelchair. "I am very pleased. I never thought it would pass so I'm thrilled," she said. "I thought for sure it would be shelved but this will help people with all types of disabilities."

But Quesnel is concerned that the changes won't be as helpful for some people. "I always wonder, with new technology the way it is, if people with the bigger chairs will fit," she said.

The standards say they reflect "minimum dimensional criteria required for adult persons," although they will take into account what the building will be used for and adapt the required standards to fit those needs.

Bill Campbell, the city's facility engineering department manager, believes they will go a long way toward making London more accessible. "The Ontario building code does not meet the needs of the people at large right now," said Campbell in his office at city hall. "That is why we've gone this extra step."

The first project that will apply all of the recommendations is the Forest City Senior Centre, which will be completed in the late spring next year. Other projects like arenas and the provincial offenses court on Dundas Street are already voluntarily using many of these standards.