Disability Law: Interesting Exchange on Retail Accessibility . . .

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

in this blog associated with the Washington Post. Read the comments as well.

Kathy Podgers said...: Nice link and an amazing number of comments! I did appreciate the one that took note of all the folks who saw no reason to accomodate any one with a disability!

I do not believe the store should be required to provide someone to push the manual wheelchair. (I usually do not use the manual wheelchair, as I am not strong enough.)

I do believe that the store could solve a lot of problems by providing "seating" scattered about the store. This is not a bad idea at all, and folks who need to rest, can look about and might see something they want to buy!

Here in the Boston area, most supermarkets had the motorized scooters, as does most Target stores. Some malls have manual wheelchairs, but no place to place selected items. The Mueseum of Fine Arts had manual wheelchairs.

I use a service dog to help me with my locomotion. Were I to get far into a store, and become "exhausted" I would be unable to get out without the help of my service dog.

I cannot understand the store's attitude to refuse to provide a chair when requested! If someone accidently knocked over a lamp, or something else broke, the store would surely respond. If someone becomes "weak" as a result of poor stamina, or whatever, does the store expect they should call an ambulence?

Common sense should dictate a reasonable response to customers needs, even if a reasonable accomocdation is not in order from the court.; 2:54 PM