The Biggest Accessibility Failures

Accessible facilities which make you laugh or cry

You know how people say don’t believe everything you find on the Internet. The other day, I saw these pictures online – I’d like so much to tell you that they are not true but I’m afraid they are:

Takeshi’s Wheelchair Challenge?

Following this dashed road would not get you very far.

Who does this gap benefit? Adrenalin junkies?

This parking spot is not for the disabled; it is disabled.

This sign asks others to keep the ramp clear – but makes an exception for itself.

I am going to share with you more photos of such ridiculous accessibility situations I encountered during my trip back home in Hong Kong last November. While I am not a wheelchair user, I am a mom travelling with a baby stroller. Many of these situations annoy me equally.

Accessibility failure #1: bladder challenge

Taken in Kowloon Park, one of the well-known public parks in Hong Kong.

“Under repair” and the next accessible toilet is nowhere to be seen. Never go to the toilet at the last minute! #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow

Accessibility failure #2: lifts are not lifts

The lift situations in Central, the business district in Hong Kong.

I have never been more disappointed with lifts.

We had a challenging day touring around Central. In this business and tourist district, we either ran into lifts which were out of service or lifts which we needed to call for help to operate. In the end, to save time, we carried the stroller down the staircase on our own.

Now I am curious how fast we could get our help if we had pressed the “Call for Help” button. Why would they install a non-automatic lift there? Why is it so difficult to have accessibility and independence simultaneously? #AbleNotDisabled

Accessibility failure #3: precious lifts

Look at this railway station layout:

Finally, so many lifts! … oh wait, no, actually there are only three lifts in the entire station and only one of them can lead you to the platform.

Here was our experience: to get to the platform, we needed to go through gates with our paid tickets. So we went through the gates and looked for the lift to go up to the platform… but oops! The lift was on the other side of the station. To take that lift, we had to go through the gates again with new paid tickets. #WheelchairLife

Accessibility failure #4: eye-rolling reminder

The most ridiculous part of our trip was that we always came across the following promotional video in the stations. The video is played in the station all day to remind people with strollers or big luggage of the importance of taking a lift.

The video would be less of a joke if they had improved the accessibility of the stations first. #BreakingBarriers

Accessibility failures: world collection

Under the following links you find more photos of ridiculous “accessible” facilities around the world:

• “Extreme Accessibility”: https://www.abilities.com/community/extreme-accessibility.html
• “Accessibility Fails”: https://gettecla.com/blogs/news/accessibility-fails
• “Wheelchair Accessibility Bloopers”: https://avacaremedical.com/blog/wheelchair-accessibility-fails.html
• “More Ridiculous Ramps – Have You Seen Any Dafter Disabled Facilities”: https://bluebadgestyle.com/2013/09/ridiculous-ramps-seen-dafter-disabled-facilities/

What is the most ridiculous “accessible” facility you’ve ever seen? What should be done to improve accessibility in general?