tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-745625607350497891.post7719061446607317718..comments2024-03-26T21:08:51.077-04:00Comments on All Life Is Local: Still Life With Robin: National BookFest 2014 - Better Without GrassPeggy Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062998960273261177noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-745625607350497891.post-72913243358717854592014-09-01T10:24:15.130-04:002014-09-01T10:24:15.130-04:00[This note was sent to the Library of Congress org...[This note was sent to the Library of Congress organizers of the National Book Festival on the subject of handicapped access.]<br /><br />My husband and I attended the National Book Festival at the convention center yesterday. The lineup of speakers was great and we were really looking forward to it. And after several years of sweltering on the mall, we were looking forward to the air-conditioning!<br /><br />My husband is disabled and uses a mobility scooter.<br /><br />Unfortunately, he gave up on the event after just two sessions because it was too difficult find seating in the sessions and to get from one event to another on time.<br /><br />The people who organized this event may not know that people in wheelchairs and scooters have particular difficulty in getting through crowds because they are not moving at eye level with most of the people in the crowd. Also, in a scooter or wheelchair, you don't have the flexibility to sidestep your way around knots of people in the crowd.<br /><br />Most of the events were on the first and third floors, but the elevators closest to the events only went to the first and second floors. This meant that it was a long way from the events to the elevators that did connect the first and third floors and back again.<br /><br />There was not much in the way of handicapped seating in the events and what we could find was generally near the front of the room. Also, there was no arrangement for a companion to sit next to the person in the wheelchair or scooter.<br /><br />Because of the long distance to the elevators, a slightly raised platform with a ramp at the rear of the room would have been much more useful.<br /><br />Finally, to add insult to injury, the elevator for people coming into the convention center from Metro at the street level was out of order, so we had to go halfway around the building to get in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com