A snapshot of one morning, on a relaxed day with mild weather. Now imagine this when it's crowded or when it's raining or snowing.

Video description: POV from the lap of a wheelchair user. Very shaky. OP is going downhill on a fall day. Lots of trees and fallen leaves around. There are construction trucks to the left in the very beginning. Every now and then, you can see a German Shepherd on the left. Second obstacle shows a food robot crossing the sidewalk to drive in front of OP, but it stops suddenly and OP crashes into it. OP continues down the hill until she reaches another food robot, which is obstacle 3. This robot sits in the middle of the sidewalk while OP navigates around it. Then OP comes to a concrete ramp with iron railings, which is obstacle 3.5. It is very steep. After the ramp, OP goes to cross the street, where a black SUV blows through the crosswalk. Obstacle 4 is a ramp with red brick. OP struggles to move up and pauses at one point before continuing again to obstacle 5, where there is a big concrete building and manual doors. The German Shepherd service dog goes up to push the accessibility button multiple times to no avail. A student comes and opens the door, OP enters through two sets of doors into a hallway. Clip change to obstacle 6, OP is wheeling down a hallway and approaches a white elevator with out of order signs.

End of description.

being fat is hard because you don’t just run into inaccessibility that affects only you. for example, if i’m bigger than a car seat is built for, then i inconvenience those sitting next to me. if i’m bigger than a room is built for, i encroach on others space. it makes the fat person feel like it’s a personal fault, and skinny people are often not kind to fat folks who take up space. i want to make this clear: it is Not the fat persons fault AND i understand the strain and shame it can cause fat people. this world is built to exclude fat people. fitting of my favorite phrase inspired by the social model of disability; it’s not the fat persons fault, it’s the worlds fault.

inaccessibility cycle

inaccessibility

disabled people unable to participate

disabled people not visible in public

disabled people seen as outlier/rarity

"so there's little/no need to consider them"

yes . internet not physical space but still important . community places online have bias to people with less needs not OK actually . sometimes biggest reason why higher needs person not have internet is because abuse , because no one want teach how connect and give that choice that opportunity .

" but might spend all money , might believe catfish , " so on . dignity of risk . dignity of risk ! people is people is people . that means should get to learn how avoid these bad things , but not that anyone control unless that person ask for and want that .

no there is not near as much high support people online as low ones . that not mean OK just keep talk over , and keep say things that ask not say , and keep treat like rare spectacle even if " true " . should all work learn how life work and learn how can make things better and learn how treat like people . because some do find ways connect online , be in communities online , and more should get that chance .

I study sustainability and part of my degree involves studying green architecture. I am also a wheelchair user. Walkable cities are ableist.

When people hear "walkable cities are ableist" and immediately retaliate they are usually thinking of a theoretical ideal for cities that isn't currently being put into practice. The problem is, there are new, walkable cities being built across the globe and they are not taking disabled people into consideration. These cities are not theoretical.

These communities are usually being built on privately owned land which can give them exemptions from having things as basic as paved sidewalks and roads. Most of these cities had gravel or dirt pathways, and all of them had large curbs or steps leading to the entrances of buildings. Even when sidewalks were present, the buildings were all multistory, which is necessary for a space to be walkable, however, none of the buildings had elevators. There was not a single community shown that I could actually live in.

The able-bodied people in my classes were consistently appalled by the lack of accessibility because I kept pointing it out. None of them had considered accessibility before I was in the class, and several were majoring in architecture.

If walkable cities were built with disabled people in mind then yes, they'd be hugely beneficial to disabled people, but walkable cities aren't just dreams for the future they are being built right now, and they are being built to keep us out. Walkable cities are ableist.

Idk not to sound like a whingey bitch, but the current watcher situation is reminding me of how people just Expect underprivileged people to take exclusion with grace. This happens with disability as well. Whenever something isn't accessible, people crack down on disabled people who express disappointment or pitch a fit because "oh well, not everything is capable of being accessible, stop ruining our fun!" Similarly, the stupid fucking Watcher streaming service is only For fans who can afford 6 dollars a month. Most of us can't, but we're expected to bow out with grace because... we don't have the privilege to be here anymore??

"Oh, you're all 'artists deserve to be paid for their work' until they actually ask for money!" I cannot give them 6 dollars a month for 4 fucking youtube videos. It's not reflective of myself or my moral standing that I can't fucking afford that. They have been funded through other means so far. It's not like they were getting Nothing just because I wasn't paying out of my own pocket.

It's frustrating because in most cases, including people would be easy. Watcher's content used to be free and funded through various means. Just add characters of color to your line-up. Just add more body types to your pictures. Fucking add image descriptions to your fucking posts already. I'm sick of people punishing marginalized people for not taking "hardship" with a smile when we're fucking excluded all the time for no fucking reason.

Why the fuck is it so hard for able bodied people to get their heads around the fact that specifically physically disabled people are not actually accommodated most of the time?

Whether it be the inaccessibility of a building due to stairs, heavy non auto doors, ramps that are too steep, broken elevators or just non existent elevators, etc the list goes on and on. Or now public spaces that let’s say are otherwise perfectly accessible are now inaccessible to so many people because so many people refuse to wear a fucking mask when it would cause then no harm (maybe just a bit of sweat) to wear one.

The fact that abled people don’t see just how fucked up and inaccessible the world is blows my fucking mind. Just because someone “can” do something or go somewhere doesn’t mean they should have to do that or that it’s safe for them to do so. Like sure I can do stairs but holy shit by the time I’m at the top I’m in so much pain and I feel like I’m gonna pass the fuck out man.

Bottom line, the world is really fucking inaccessible and that needs to be fixed. Physically disabled people’s voices need to be listened to and not talked over by ableds who think they know what’s best for us or who think the world is perfect as it is

I keep seeing videos by other disabled people basically showing small things that cause accessibility issues for them, that might not be issues for others. Like drinking fountains or doorknobs that you have to turn. Just little accessibility issues that most people go about their day ignorant to.

And the comments are absolutely filled with people calling it a cry for attention, or bashing these- often very visibly disabled people- for "faking" their disabilities and "taking attention" from people who, quote, "actually need it".

Which is funny to me (sarcasm) because I just know that these people claiming that these creators are "overreacting" and neglecting "actual" disability issues are the same people who would turn their noses up or laugh at a disabled person if they every actually met them face to face.

"Oh I can't possibly conceive how this tiny machine could cause an issue for someone so you're clearly lying!"

"Just use it like this [insert action that physically hurts/is impossible for the person to do] and you won't have a 'problem' anymore."

It really isn't that hard to understand that just because something is accessible or easy to use for you does not mean that it is for everyone else. Can't believe it has to be said.

🔥

the irony of the application process for disability related things not being accessible

“this bathroom is accessible!!1!1”

if my chair was one (1) inch longer, the door wouldnt have shut. this stall was also the exact same size as the non-accessible stall next to it. you cant just slap some grab bars on it and call it accessible 🙄

image ID: first image: a shot of someone sitting in their wheelchair in a bathroom stall, the stall is so small that the edge of the toilet hits their knees. the stall is very narrow as well. there are grab bars on the walls around the toilet. second image: a shot from the other view showing how the wheelchair fits in the stall. the back wheels hit the stall door, and there is about an inch between the footplate and toilet. end ID.

Guys what the fuck.

My campus now had two lifts not working (one has been out of service for like almost a month now) and the third lift only goes up to the third floor. my class is on the fourth floor. My class is also Critical Issues in Disability. this sounds like a critical issue to me. Plus, this is the room I have to wait in at the moment

[Image ID: a picture of glass windows with two black line decals on it. one of the decals show a person in a wheelchair being pushed by someone else, looking at each other. The second decal shows an older person using a cane leaning on another person slightly. End ID]

the irony of me waiting here for accessibility. I am. so tired of this shit.

UPDATE: the class is being moved somewhere more accessible, instead of the fourth floor. Now I feel awkward for making it a big deal but also now I’m happy because I might’ve just brought attention to something maybe people haven’t noticed before? I don’t know how to feel but it’s some feeling

UPDATE 2: I have to go into one building and walk through three other buildings to get to my class now

just got hit by an unskippable youtube ad with intense fullscreen flashing. now i’m gonna get a migraine, and i’m very lucky that a bad migraine is my worst case scenario these days.

here’s your reminder that epileptic seizures can kill people and can start within seconds. there is no reaction period with which to look away. if you’re putting something with flashing out into the world without a flash warning or any time to react you’re participating in inaccessibility at best and peoples’ death at worst. imagine killing someone because you couldn’t be bothered to write “flash warning”.

add flash warnings & time to react, if you must have flashing at all. it’s not that hard.

I don't think someone is instantly a bad person if they have ableist behavior. Think about it, society is BUILT on ableism. We're all raised on that shit. There are examples of this in everyday life: 'good listening' habits that are beaten into us in school, sidewalks that are built on fucking hills, cities that WOULD be walkable had they installed more seating areas, etc etc the list goes on.

So it's almost natural to be some degree of ableist, even if you yourself are disabled, because it has been normalized through millions of things abled people probably wouldn't even notice. This doesn't excuse the behavior, but it's important to note that not every person is ableist out of malice.

my school has an elevator. they turn it off during breaks for some reason . have seen some students who use crutches have to struggle walking down stairs because the elevator was turned off . have ASKED the people in charge to turn it on before and they refused (this was when i still had the legal disability too !! )

not to mention there is no actual way to access the elevator without walking up stairs to get in the school (for my knowledge) . so wheelchair users cant get in at all . they're pretending to be accessible to physical disability , but you cant get in if you cant walk up stairs , and even if you do manage to get in , they wont even let you use the elevator ?

I got the train to and from work today and on the way back the ramp at my home station looked scarily short/ steep. I didn’t say anything cause I wanted to get home quick to use the bathroom and because I thought the person whose job it was to get ramps would have got the right ramp.

Long story short, it was the wrong ramp and my wheelchair started falling forwards (like back wheels fully off the floor). There is absolutely nothing I can do to stop this once it’s started but thankfully my carer noticed and was able to catch my chair and strong enough to stop it falling. Luckily for me it was just a scare from a near miss but had I fallen, I would have fallen face first and been crushed between the platform and my wheelchair as well as damaging my wheelchair which would have almost certainly meant a hospital trip and broken bones.

I’ve had to write a complaint email which I hate doing but using the wrong ramp is so incredibly dangerous and someone could be really badly hurt if they keep doing it.

I have to get the train again tomorrow and I’m already stressed about it. After today though I will definitely speak up if the ramp looks wrong.

"cognitive accessibility"

image: a thought bubble over a ramp. the ramp is light brown and has an arrow pointing up it.

"cognitive inaccessibility"

image: a thought bubble trying to float up stairs. the stairs are light brown and have an arrow pointing up, stopped by a 'stop' or 'pause' symbol.