Comments on: How accessible is Toronto? http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-accessible-is-toronto Toronto's new weekly city magazine Sun, 19 May 2013 01:57:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Jennifer Aucoin http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/#comment-45390 Jennifer Aucoin Wed, 27 Feb 2013 01:55:46 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=123194#comment-45390 This article is very narrow minded. It assumes that everyone with a disability in Toronto uses a wheelchair. My husband and daughter both have low vision (my daughter is deafblind). We lived in the GTA until recently and found that Toronto is still inaccessible. Not every theatre has DVS equipment for the visually impaired, very few restaurants have large print menus, and the TTC is still a nightmare. Hughes says that the AGO is accessible. Hah! I am student in the Disability Studies program at Ryerson and our class looked at the AGO in terms of accessible design. The automatic door buttons are too far away, the ramps are not easily accessible, bathroom signs are impossible to see if you have any kind of vision loss at all. The main ramp is a nightmare. So...to echo the sentiments of the other comments, Toronto has a long way to go before it is accessible. This article is very narrow minded. It assumes that everyone with a disability in Toronto uses a wheelchair. My husband and daughter both have low vision (my daughter is deafblind). We lived in the GTA until recently and found that Toronto is still inaccessible.

Not every theatre has DVS equipment for the visually impaired, very few restaurants have large print menus, and the TTC is still a nightmare.

Hughes says that the AGO is accessible. Hah! I am student in the Disability Studies program at Ryerson and our class looked at the AGO in terms of accessible design. The automatic door buttons are too far away, the ramps are not easily accessible, bathroom signs are impossible to see if you have any kind of vision loss at all. The main ramp is a nightmare.

So…to echo the sentiments of the other comments, Toronto has a long way to go before it is accessible.

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]]> By: An experienced wheelie http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/#comment-45040 An experienced wheelie Tue, 19 Feb 2013 22:06:55 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=123194#comment-45040 Boy, is this article naive! It appears as if the writer didn't bother to speak with people with actual disabilities. Rather, the individual did a sight check to see if people in wheelchairs can get around. As all the other commentators have pointed out, accessibility is way broader. Go to a real world-class city such as London, UK and you'll see for yourself. And the assertion that Wheel-Trans is good? Ask any user about the long waits, the rides that take you to your destination with no guarantee of a return and the round about routes and you'll get a whole different picture. Media should cover access and disability rights issues. However, please be smart about it. This is some of the laziest journalism I've seen in a long time. In fact, it's an insult to journalists to call it reporting. Boy, is this article naive! It appears as if the writer didn’t bother to speak with people with actual disabilities. Rather, the individual did a sight check to see if people in wheelchairs can get around.

As all the other commentators have pointed out, accessibility is way broader. Go to a real world-class city such as London, UK and you’ll see for yourself.

And the assertion that Wheel-Trans is good? Ask any user about the long waits, the rides that take you to your destination with no guarantee of a return and the round about routes and you’ll get a whole different picture.

Media should cover access and disability rights issues. However, please be smart about it. This is some of the laziest journalism I’ve seen in a long time. In fact, it’s an insult to journalists to call it reporting.

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]]> By: Dave Carlson http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/#comment-45035 Dave Carlson Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:29:04 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=123194#comment-45035 I wanted to bring a factual error to your attention. The Jason George does have seperate washrooms in the basement, as it always has. It now has an accessible bathroom. As a local to the neighbourhood, I have been a customer of the Jason George since 2005, when they didn't have the wheelchair accessible uni-sex bathroom in the back right hand corner of the restaurant. That bathroom was installed in the last few years and has been a welcome and much used change. It was added when the Jason George's owner expanded into the previous Asian restaurant that was next door. They also expanded their patio in the process. I would believe from what I've observed, that the place has also had an increase in business with the addition of the accessible bathroom, which proves useful to families with small children as well and seniors. Businesses make an effort if they're forced through legislative changes that are also enforced. Sadly, the AODA, unlike our American friends to the south with their ADA, has no teeth. Until we acquire the collective backbone to enforce requirements with more rigour and consistency, we will continue to see the poor accessibility that still plagues Toronto and the rest of Canada as well as the globe. I wanted to bring a factual error to your attention. The Jason George does have seperate washrooms in the basement, as it always has. It now has an accessible bathroom.

As a local to the neighbourhood, I have been a customer of the Jason George since 2005, when they didn’t have the wheelchair accessible uni-sex bathroom in the back right hand corner of the restaurant. That bathroom was installed in the last few years and has been a welcome and much used change.

It was added when the Jason George’s owner expanded into the previous Asian restaurant that was next door. They also expanded their patio in the process. I would believe from what I’ve observed, that the place has also had an increase in business with the addition of the accessible bathroom, which proves useful to families with small children as well and seniors.

Businesses make an effort if they’re forced through legislative changes that are also enforced. Sadly, the AODA, unlike our American friends to the south with their ADA, has no teeth. Until we acquire the collective backbone to enforce requirements with more rigour and consistency, we will continue to see the poor accessibility that still plagues Toronto and the rest of Canada as well as the globe.

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]]> By: Claire http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/#comment-44919 Claire Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:22:51 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=123194#comment-44919 As a parent of a child with severe intellectual and physical impairments and fiancee to a paraplegic, I would have taken the article seriously if the writer had followed a person with disabilities around for a day rather than play "pretend crip". Unless you live it, you have no clue. It is frustratingly patronizing to have a non-disabled individual write such an article. As a parent of a child with severe intellectual and physical impairments and fiancee to a paraplegic, I would have taken the article seriously if the writer had followed a person with disabilities around for a day rather than play “pretend crip”. Unless you live it, you have no clue. It is frustratingly patronizing to have a non-disabled individual write such an article.

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]]> By: peter http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/#comment-44838 peter Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:41:56 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=123194#comment-44838 I liv(ed) in Toronto for the third to fifth year of being disabled after being able-bodied for almost 44 years! Yes, Toronto does have a lion share of default surrounding the AODA. I have also read/witnessed/experienced ignorance of those not wanting to nor claiming not to have the money to spend on making improvements. The act has been in existence since 2006! Does it really need 7 years to make it a reality? The TTC claims to need to wait on parts to repair an elevator at Yonge and Sheppard only to excuse it more than a year later that due to the lack of usage on that platform the elevator requires shutting down and not repairing it like they promised. AODA requires customer service- where in that comment do you read customer service? I moved to Woodstock where the service has been combined into two public/private service; but making a disabled person wait a week for a ride is dinosaur. TTC wheel trans can be booked in less than 48 hours, also, a nice DVD to accomodate and express what the service offers! Hamilton, another fine mess - businesses claiming the money isn't there to offer disability access! How does that work? Is the business not interested in our money? Perhaps a media publishing a list of companies STILL not upgrading like the time the restaurants in Toronto were put on notice for health violations? Metro at Bathurst/Sheppard is not fully compliant either - go look at the front where a supposed access point has a lock on it yet, it has the disabled sticker on it - please provide the explanation? North York centre subway - great elevator but short on access to the mall, library without going miles out of the way. Scooters are run on battery, not solar power, the further it goes with hills, the shorter the lifespan of the battery! Do the decision/policy makers have the same problem - short life span? I liv(ed) in Toronto for the third to fifth year of being disabled after being able-bodied for almost 44 years! Yes, Toronto does have a lion share of default
surrounding the AODA. I have also read/witnessed/experienced ignorance
of those not wanting to nor claiming not to have the money to spend on making improvements. The act has been in existence since 2006! Does it really need 7 years to make it a reality? The TTC claims to need to wait on parts to repair an elevator at Yonge and Sheppard only to excuse it more than a year later that due to the lack of usage on that platform the elevator requires shutting down and not repairing it like they promised. AODA requires customer service- where in that comment do you read customer service? I moved to Woodstock where the service has been combined into two public/private service; but making a disabled person wait a week for a ride is dinosaur. TTC wheel trans can be booked in less than 48 hours, also, a nice DVD to accomodate and express what the service offers! Hamilton, another fine mess – businesses claiming the money isn’t there to offer disability access! How does that work? Is the business not interested in our money? Perhaps a media publishing a list of companies STILL not upgrading like the time the restaurants in Toronto were put on notice for health violations? Metro at Bathurst/Sheppard is not fully compliant either – go look at the front where a supposed access point has a lock on it yet, it has the disabled sticker on it – please provide the explanation? North York centre subway – great elevator but short on access to the mall, library without going miles out of the way. Scooters are run on battery, not solar power, the further it goes with hills, the shorter the lifespan of the battery! Do the decision/policy makers have the same problem – short life span?

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]]> By: Walker http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/#comment-44835 Walker Thu, 14 Feb 2013 06:50:58 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=123194#comment-44835 Toronto sucks for accessability. Sure there's space for wheelchairs (sort of) on buses and the subway, but heaven help you if you've got another physical disability. I've been forced to stand on the subway because people won't give me a seat, even though I use a cane, possibly because I look too young to be "genuinely disabled". Or maybe because a lot of the people here are jerks. It's hard to say. I know that if I want to eat in a restaurant that's better than a fast food chain, I'll have to stagger downstairs to use the washroom. It's unreasonable to expect otherwise, because accessability is expensive. I don't know what I can do to change things for the better. The blind had to take the TTC to court just to get bus stops announced. This is Toronto, open for business, but only for some. We should be so proud. Toronto sucks for accessability.

Sure there’s space for wheelchairs (sort of) on buses and the subway, but heaven help you if you’ve got another physical disability. I’ve been forced to stand on the subway because people won’t give me a seat, even though I use a cane, possibly because I look too young to be “genuinely disabled”. Or maybe because a lot of the people here are jerks. It’s hard to say.

I know that if I want to eat in a restaurant that’s better than a fast food chain, I’ll have to stagger downstairs to use the washroom. It’s unreasonable to expect otherwise, because accessability is expensive.

I don’t know what I can do to change things for the better. The blind had to take the TTC to court just to get bus stops announced.

This is Toronto, open for business, but only for some. We should be so proud.

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]]> By: Shopper http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/#comment-44821 Shopper Thu, 14 Feb 2013 01:59:39 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=123194#comment-44821 In the Yonge and Eglinton area there is a high end women`s fashion clothing store that has the worst front step that I have ever encountered. The store is called Merry Go Round and it is located on a corner at Erskine I believe. The front cement step is so high that anyone with a mobility challenge (or some who do not) will most likely have difficulty climbing it to get into the store. There is no hand railing. The front window has a sign that states no food, no drinks, no animals. It might as well say no disabled as well. In fact, one time I saw a family outside the store which included a man in a wheelchair. It ended up that he waited outside while his wife went into the store. I was appalled. When you mention the front step as a concern to the store staff, they do not seem to care. Accessibility is the issue. So too is attitude. Something should be done about this. It is shameful. In the Yonge and Eglinton area there is a high end women`s fashion clothing store that has the worst front step that I have ever encountered. The store is called Merry Go Round and it is located on a corner at Erskine I believe. The front cement step is so high that anyone with a mobility challenge (or some who do not) will most likely have difficulty climbing it to get into the store. There is no hand railing. The front window has a sign that states no food, no drinks, no animals. It might as well say no disabled as well. In fact, one time I saw a family outside the store which included a man in a wheelchair. It ended up that he waited outside while his wife went into the store. I was appalled. When you mention the front step as a concern to the store staff, they do not seem to care. Accessibility is the issue. So too is attitude. Something should be done about this. It is shameful.

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]]> By: rpearlston http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/#comment-44813 rpearlston Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:41:55 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=123194#comment-44813 First, this article did make mention of communications difficulties. Please read it again if you think otherwise. I use a walker, I live in Toronto, and I can tell you from personal experience that the author of this article has not been to the Toronto that I know. Perhaps that's because I live in a different part of the city (north-central). I shop, or try to shop, in areas that aren't particularly accessible, including multiple areas in which whole blocks of stores are either a half-story above or a half-story below street level. Two big-name stores in the plaza near me insist on using buggy corrals, which are discriminatory, no matter how you cut it. And while I've rarely seen a Starbucks that wasn't inaccessible, the same can't necessarily be said for it's competitors. And believe it or not, WheelTrans is not a great idea, and not for the reasons listed above. I've had too many drivers (including this morning) who have tried to pick me up or drop me off in the middle of a snow bank. For the last few weeks now, every trip that I've tried to book has ended up on a waiting lsit, including a round trip from home to Toronto Western Hospital. (That, BTW, is in the middle of an accessible transit desert, with no accessible routes from University to Dufferin, Bloor to the lake. I didn't have a ride to get there for a 9:00 am appointment on Monday until 7:00 am that day, and I had booked that ride at 5:00 am the previous Monday. What makes tht even more ridiculous is that I live just off of Bathurst. I can't speak to movie theatres, as I've found them to be far too loud for 25 years now. (That, too, is tied up in another type of accessibility problem.) But I can you that most restaurants have at least one step up to the door. In fact, it's far more difficult to find someplace that I can get into than it is to find restaurants that serve vegetarian food. That's more than frustrating. And I would go farther than did the author of this article and say that any food services establishment that does not have level or leveled access and does not have at least one universal washroom on the same floor as the seating should not, under any circumstances, get approved by the Health Dept. I appreciate the article, but my Toronto isn't particularly accessible. First, this article did make mention of communications difficulties. Please read it again if you think otherwise.

I use a walker, I live in Toronto, and I can tell you from personal experience that the author of this article has not been to the Toronto that I know. Perhaps that’s because I live in a different part of the city (north-central). I shop, or try to shop, in areas that aren’t particularly accessible, including multiple areas in which whole blocks of stores are either a half-story above or a half-story below street level. Two big-name stores in the plaza near me insist on using buggy corrals, which are discriminatory, no matter how you cut it. And while I’ve rarely seen a Starbucks that wasn’t inaccessible, the same can’t necessarily be said for it’s competitors.

And believe it or not, WheelTrans is not a great idea, and not for the reasons listed above. I’ve had too many drivers (including this morning) who have tried to pick me up or drop me off in the middle of a snow bank. For the last few weeks now, every trip that I’ve tried to book has ended up on a waiting lsit, including a round trip from home to Toronto Western Hospital. (That, BTW, is in the middle of an accessible transit desert, with no accessible routes from University to Dufferin, Bloor to the lake. I didn’t have a ride to get there for a 9:00 am appointment on Monday until 7:00 am that day, and I had booked that ride at 5:00 am the previous Monday. What makes tht even more ridiculous is that I live just off of Bathurst.

I can’t speak to movie theatres, as I’ve found them to be far too loud for 25 years now. (That, too, is tied up in another type of accessibility problem.) But I can you that most restaurants have at least one step up to the door. In fact, it’s far more difficult to find someplace that I can get into than it is to find restaurants that serve vegetarian food. That’s more than frustrating. And I would go farther than did the author of this article and say that any food services establishment that does not have level or leveled access and does not have at least one universal washroom on the same floor as the seating should not, under any circumstances, get approved by the Health Dept.

I appreciate the article, but my Toronto isn’t particularly accessible.

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]]> By: Joe Clark http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/#comment-44723 Joe Clark Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:16:40 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=123194#comment-44723 <i>The Girdle</i> keeps running these junior accessibility articles by kids with their hearts in the right place that never actually address real accessibility. It’s more than just wheelchairs. Great: You can get your wheelchair into a movie house. Where’s the captioning and audio description? When the latter is available, does it displace assistive-listening devices? Those are just some of the questions that anyone doing a real accessibility audit would explore. Then we’d discuss the accessibility of this Web site, including its ridiculous disco-CAPTCHA. The Girdle keeps running these junior accessibility articles by kids with their hearts in the right place that never actually address real accessibility. It’s more than just wheelchairs.

Great: You can get your wheelchair into a movie house. Where’s the captioning and audio description? When the latter is available, does it displace assistive-listening devices? Those are just some of the questions that anyone doing a real accessibility audit would explore.

Then we’d discuss the accessibility of this Web site, including its ridiculous disco-CAPTCHA.

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]]> By: MikeTO http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/how-accessible-is-toronto/#comment-44690 MikeTO Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:28:47 +0000 http://www.thegridto.com/?p=123194#comment-44690 Good article. One sticking point for me is that the terminology is somewhat outdated. Using the term "the disabled" has negative connotations, while using "people with disabilities" instead conveys the fact that they are people first. A good reference guide is available at: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/disability_issues/reports/way_with_words/index.shtml Good article. One sticking point for me is that the terminology is somewhat outdated. Using the term “the disabled” has negative connotations, while using “people with disabilities” instead conveys the fact that they are people first.

A good reference guide is available at: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/disability_issues/reports/way_with_words/index.shtml

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