[SGVLUG] [Scale-volunteers] SCaLE 7 disability access issues

[Chris Louden]

On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 3:22 PM, Bill Zuke <wzuke at lafn.org> wrote:
> There were very few people with a visible disability at SCaLE this time.
> I know a couple of participants who are interested is disability issues,
> and I suspect there may be many others.  I would like to see more focus
> on giving handicapped or disabled people access to the internet via open
> source, so I intend to help do some "outreach" during this year.  I had
> a very good time.
>        The handicapped parking was adequate, but could be overloaded if there
> were to be a high attendance by wheelchair toting special vehicles.
> Such an overload (if it were to occur) could be averted if invitations
> asked people to indicate their special needs.  I have seen hotels put up
> temporary signs for handicapped parking, when necessary.  People who
> need high ceiling clearance or extra wide spaces could be asked to
> notify the hotel in advance; and such participants could be requested to
> leave the large spaces open if one can get by in a low ceiling or
> regular width parking space.
>        I did not thoroughly research the hotel guest room accommodations for
> handicap access.  Hotel food vendors do not always consider allergies

My friends and I stayed in a room that was handicap accessible. It
easily had an additional 150-200 sq ft of additional space compared to
the regular 2 bed room. Shower was equiped so that a wheelchair could
roll right into it. Closet had low and high hangers. The entire room
was very accessible. Space between the beds was noticeably large,
etc..

> and special diet.  I saw an employee change the water bottle and load
> ice, and consequently I would not drink it.  Restroom (for men) did
> stink, for apparent lack of adequate air conditioning.  The restroom
> doors were a bit heavy to open; pressure could be adjusted, if

The ground floor was pretty nasty, but the conference room level was
considerably nicer and I noticed the doors were easier to open. I
slammed it open the first time expecting it to be heavier

> maintenance staff bothers to do it.   The hands free water faucets in
> the restroom were good, although not all were adjusted for comfortable
> temperature.  Apart from things which could be improved, there were no
> major problems.
>
>        Some of the SCaLE 7 speakers were very awkward or quite bashful.  I do
> appreciate the fact they are volunteers who are intelligent people.  One
> might try to team them up with some other person who is willing to
> support the speaker with an outline and prompting; some prompting was
> spontaneously done from the audience.
>
>        There is an event coming (March 16 through 20) near LAX.  California
> State University at Northridge (CSUN) which has an exhibit of technical
> devices and services to help disabled people.  There is a lot of overlap
> with computers and software.  Some people would probably find the
> creative ideas interesting.  It may be a good contact for a few open
> source people.  I did meet 1 blind person who was using OS for internet
> access, albeit with difficulty.  I do not expect institutional liaison
> between CSUN and SCaLE, but on a person-to-person basis there could be
> some common interests.
>        I know at least 1 SCaLE presenter who was diagnosed at having
> "attention deficit disorder (ADD)" and I suspect there are many such
> people who can excel in OS technology.  Beside that, at CSUN one may
> bump into people like inventors Dean Kaman, or Ray Kurzweil.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Scale-volunteers mailing list
> Scale-volunteers at mail.socallinuxexpo.org
> http://mail.socallinuxexpo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/scale-volunteers
>