Feb 102007
When I talk to people about accessibility, it frequently takes them by surprise when I suggest that they add a statement about accessibility to their website.
An accessibility statement describes what is and isn’t accessible at a particular facility, and saves a patron or visitor from having to call up and talk to someone who probably has never even noticed if there are steps at the entrance, if the restroom door is too heavy to open, or if there is any nearby parking.
Here’s a good example: St Bartholemew’s Church: Accessibility
Oooh, that is a good example.
I left an inaccessible church in part because they wouldn’t warn about inaccessibility on their flyers about concerts and such–and they hosted regional meetings without making the inaccessibility issue clear in their pre-meeting materials. If they couldn’t even admit their real shortcomings, what was the chance they’d ever address them effectively?
And one of the advantages of sitting down and crafting an accessibility statement is that it forces the organization to understand what’s lacking.
I strongly suspect that a lot of churches are unable to admit in print how bad it really is.