During the Campus Accessibility Tour, participants identified the College of Technology and the Cullen Performance Hall as two buildings with narrowed spaces, making them difficult for students with disabilities to access. | Kendra Berglund
Students with DisABILITIES received a helping hand Tuesday, courtesy of the students, staff and faculty participating in the Campus Accessibility Tour.
The tour was put together by the Center for Students with DisABILITIES to demonstrate how disabled students maneuver around campus and point out areas for improvement.
“Getting around the campus is not always smooth,” CSD Assistant Director Alan Russell said. “The pebble ground cracks can cause damage to a wheelchair, which can be very expensive. My wheelchair, for example, costs $5,000.
“There are also some obstructions like the big flower pots around the campus, so the blind and those in a wheelchair have to ease their way around.”
During the tour, four groups inspected the campus. Some group members had the opportunity to experience moving around in a wheelchair, while others got to walk around with a white cane and blindfold. The purpose was to identify which areas on campus need improvements.
According to a flyer put out by the CSD, general accessibilities features should include automatic doors, wide hallways and sidewalks, access ramps, tile or short carpeting floors, hands-free sinks and spacious restrooms. Participants were asked to identify if the buildings they toured complied with these features.
“The Student Service Center has restrooms only on the second and third floors, and the drinking fountains are on the third floor,” health senior and tour guide Irene Young said. “There are automatic doors at the entrance to the Student Service Center but none to the Career Services office.”
Ann Liberman, director of Career Services at the Graduate College of Social Work, said the tour helps participants who are not disabled relate to the challenges disabled students face.
“If you’re in a wheelchair, you’re going to be more aware of obstacles than if you’re not,” Liberman said. “You can just walk along and trip and get back up again.”
For blind students, access to books for research can sometimes be difficult to find as well.
“It can take a week to get a book in Braille, but if the semester’s already under way, it can take a long time,” Russell said.
Through the tour, participants found the most inaccessible buildings on campus. Participants identified the College of Technology and the Cullen Performance Hall.
The College of Technology does not have automatic doors or accessible drinking fountains for those in a wheelchair.
“The restroom in the technology building is very narrow,” Young said. “It feels very uncomfortable, and there isn’t enough space for me to move around. There’s also no Braille to label the restrooms for the blind.”
The Cullen Performance Hall had their drinking fountains located in a narrow space, making it inaccessible to the disabled.
“You don’t actually see the steps until you get to them,” said Young, who gets around campus in a powered wheelchair. “From my experience, the first time I was around the Cullen Plaza, I actually fell down the steps because I wasn’t able to see the ramp on the side.”
A survey was given to all those who participated in the tour. These surveys will be given to the Department of Plant Operations in order to brainstorm improvements.
