On paper, Carleton is committed to becoming barrier-free as outlined by guidelines in the Access for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Our website touts us as Canada’s “most accessible” university.
Yet, in the last few years there have been complaints that point out obvious flaws in the school’s infrastructure. In 2013, Nathan Bragg—now program co-ordinator at the Carleton Disability Awareness Centre (CDAC)—discussed with the school that a broken elevator severely restricted accessibility for Stormont residents. Others have mentioned poorly placed wheelchair ramps in the tunnels, or that the only elevator which accesses all six floors in the University Centre is also the service elevator.
However, CDAC has recently made an example Carleton should uphold and use as inspiration for improving accessibilty.
Events like the Propeller Dance, covered in this issue, challenge preconceptions of what events can and cannot be accessible. Also, CDAC spearheaded a successful project to bring wheelchair-accessible equipment to the Athletic Centre.
These efforts are excellent, and show the university they need to take the steps students cannot to make campus more accessible, including renovations and changes to infrastructure.
The university should be taking suggestions from groups like CDAC that know the challenges our campus may present so we can truly become an accessible university.
