In answer to the question, "Do you have a wheelchair-friendly entrance and a
disabled toilet?", wheelchair user Mary Dixon was told by a south London
pub: "Give us plenty of notice so we can move all the tables and unlock the
side door." This perhaps was one better than the pub in Northumberland that
replied:
"There's a perfectly good public disabled toilet in the car park over the
road."
Dixon, who has multiple sclerosis, conducted
the research for her website, www.yourlevelbest.com, which has a directory of pubs and restaurants
accessible to wheelchair users.
By October 1st, every business will have to
comply with the Disability Discrimination Act and make changes to ensure
Britain's 8.6 million disabled people can use services. Dixon's survey
reveals that many are unprepared for the new rules.
"Well-meaning proprietors do not see the
importance of access to the toilets, which is often difficult or
impossible," she says. "A common response was, 'Disabled ladies could use
the gents. I'll clear the men out'."
She found information often hard to come by.
Some chains provided lists of accessible branches; others failed to, or
ignored her requests.
The website lists 3,000 destinations, mainly
in England and Wales, and additions are made each week.
Tourist hotspot Brighton does well, with 22
accessible destinations; the wooden spoon goes to the Scilly Isles "with
only one - and that at the top of a steep hill," says Dixon.
Pubs came out worst. "Many had been recently
refurbished, but the improvements still took no account of access issues and
disability discrimination laws," Dixon says.
The website grew out of Dixon's frustration at
being excluded from many pubs, teashops and restaurants while on holiday.
The pleasure of visiting new places was often overshadowed by anxiety about
whether her chair would get through the door.
If the website thrives, she says, it will allow
disabled people to visit areas and businesses where they know they'll be
welcome. And the prospect of being manhandled downstairs to use the loo will
be a thing of the past.
This feature is adapted from one originally published in
The Guardian Wednesday October 29, 2003
