An Accessible Place - Bar/Bakery/Brewery

[justira]

So. There is this dream: a place that is a bar, bakery, and brewery, making its own unique hand-crafted beers that can be served to you with a bagel sandwich or some delicious pie, along with the usual bar fare of burgers, fries, and mixed drinks. There's a stage for music and other performances. The bakery opens early while the bar is mostly dormant, with breads, cookies, cupcakes, cake pops, sugar pearl waffles, and other delicious things; as the day wanes the bar picks up with unique beers, house-recipe mixed drinks, and bar food. The menu has a variety of items, including options for gluten-free, nut-free, and lactose-free items [edit add low-glycemic index to that list, courtesy of seventhe's reminder] that are also tasty, goddammit, and would be totally scrumptious to people without those allergies as well (and tasty vegan options!) — I refuse to believe this cannot be done and am already working on recipes for allergy-friendly baked goods.

[edit gluten-free beer u gaiz!!]

[edit chaosraven notes that a substitutions-friendly menu can similarly expand our range!]

Me and a few other people, seventhe among them, are interested in starting such an enterprise eventually — but part of this dream is to make a space that is accessible and friendly. This means as welcoming as we can be to all kinds of people, all genders, all abilities, as much as we can. I wanted to throw around some ideas I've been brewing for little things that make a place accessible.

This does not just mean wheelchair ramps and a single wheelchair-friendly bathroom stall — that is the shoddy minimum. I want everything. I want as much as we can manage, and I seriously want to hear any ideas and thoughts you all might have.

This post is mostly concerned with the space and patrons — there are a lot of other things to consider, like policies that welcome a diverse range of employees, and employee training on diversity and sensitivity, general practices, etc. But for now, I am just thinking about the physics, I guess!

Here are some of the things I have been tossing around! This is just a general outpouring of thought, largely unedited. This is unlikely to be a complete list because what do I know, right? I'm still trying to learn. I definitely appreciate additional ideas!

General

Options, not restrictions — As a general rule, I also want to avoid restricting people to special "handicapped areas" like a particular table or a special "gluten-free" menu section or whatever. Instead, I envision a variety of options such that people can choose to make a special space for themselves, or to be wherever they want. I want to normalize human diversity, not section it off.

Ramps and wide spaces — The very basics! This is a general assumption about the space, but I will highlight particular ideas.

Braille and/or audio — Again, the basics, having communication options for non-sighted or low-vision patrons. Again, general assumption, will highlight particulars.

Service animals welcome — What I would love most would be a sheltered patio space, but I want the indoors to also be welcoming to service animals. However, I'm not as familiar with what exactly this would entail, so ideas welcome! I know that it would be good to have a non-distracting space (so stuff like animal toys is not actually good, because the animal is on duty), but I just don't know much else! This is something I definitely need to do research on, but if you folks have ideas/thoughts...!

[edit just as a note, I have indeed seem service animals indoors — for example there was a lady with a service dog in one of my local Starbucks cafes recently! This kind of thing will definitely depend on health codes and laws and etc., but for now in the spirit of brainstorming, I definitely want to at least think about how this might be done]

Accommodating to allergies — As mentioned above, I want a menu that offers lots of choices to people with allergies — but I also want a space that is generally accommodating to allergies. This includes allergies to service animals! I've heard stories about hospitals not letting service animals in because someone might be allergic, even though the person needs their animal, no maybes about it. I was thinking, if there's a service animal in residence, then a sign (with audio and visual options, perhaps an audio message upon door-opening?) could be hung out front letting people know about the animal. Of course, general and thorough cleanliness should lessen the presence of many allergens, but I would also want to look into cleaners and other chemicals used on the premises and research possible allergens.

Clear communication about crowd/noise levels — Being very clear about any scheduled events (performances, cooking classes, etc.) that may bring a lot of people or noise so that people who have issues with either can be informed and either prepare or avoid. This means advance, clear notice for these things, with a noticeboard indoors and maybe a sign outdoors indicating what's up inside (also serves as advertising for those who are into this sort of thing!).

Lights and alarms — Those flashing-light fire alarms can be pretty unfriendly to people with light-sensitive epilepsy or other light sensitivities. If there are legal alarm options that eschew this sort of thing, I want those instead — maybe following the airplane model, turning all lights dim or red with clear lit markers for exit routes. In general I want to look at various lighting types and see if we can choose the type that is most generally friendly — for example I know fluorescent lights can really mess with some people — or several types we can switch on or off at need.

[edit - Storage space — seventhe points out the need for storage space for coats and bags/purses both for safety and convenience and to keep them off the floor/out of the aisles. Storage space may also be useful for assistive devices when not in use? So no one messes with them or well-meaningly takes them away to store for you or whatever.]

Bathrooms

Non-gendered — This is something I've never seen in person but have heard reports of other places doing it, and I know this is something trans* and genderqueer folk often advocate for — hell, being genderqueer myself, *I* want this! So I envision several individual rooms not marked for gender in any way, like the singles toilets in some cafes but, you know. Not gendered. And more of them. (And well ventilated, ugh.)

All stalls roomy and handle-equipped — Each room should be big enough for a wheelchair user or someone with another assistive device, which coincidentally would also make the room large enough for fat people. All should have the appropriate handles and grips.

All hardware large, friendly, accommodating — All hardware (toilets, sinks, dryers, handles/bars, etc.) should accommodate use by a variety of bodies. No tiny levers or buttons or sharp corners or whatnot.

Panic/assistance button — One of the things that makes me most nervous about using bathrooms in places like bars or clubs is the possibility of getting trapped in there with someone I do not want with me, and I know a lot of women have had similar worries about being followed into bathrooms, etc. I have also been exposed to horror stories of people passing out or overdosing in bathrooms and being found too late, unable to summon help. I thought, why not have a button in there that summons assistance if you need a bouncer — or just a hand if you fell. I would need to think about how best to handle the details, but I'm curious on thoughts about the general idea.

All stalls family-friendly — While I don't really anticipate this being much of a family joint, all stalls should be equipped with childcare stations. (Sidenote: how it annoys me when only womens' bathrooms have those, and not mens'!)

Menus

Braille, audio, and/or large-print versions — Have options! Braille and large-print versions I've seen before — not sure about audio. That might work like an option tree on phone services (whatever the technical details of the device involved): press 1 for appetizers, press 2 for bakery options, stay on the line for the full listing, etc. Just a thought! (Perhaps large print could even be the default...?)

Low and high information density versions — For people with various kinds of processing disorders, some menus can be overwhelmingly high-density. I think the default menu design should be comfortably low-density and clean, with another version that includes additional nutritional information, etc. also available.

Allergy and dietary preference markers — Clear markers on all items to indicate which ones are gluten-, lactose-, or nut-free (or whatever other allergies we can accommodate), as well as marks for vegetarian and vegan options.

[edit - Translations — I feel pretty silly for thinking of this like right after posting, but as seventhe says, we should also have translations!]

Seating

Big enough seating — I was floored when I went to get my work ID badge renewed and the waiting room chairs were so wide — instead of the usual "normal-person width" plastic chairs they had these rather pretty ones that seemed wide enough to accommodate a far wider range of body types. It was great, and I want this.

A variety of seating heights and types — Sitting down and getting up can be a pretty fraught process for a variety of reasons — I have bad knees for example and have a hard time with low seating. I want a variety of seating to accommodate, you know, various people. Another option is adjustable seating, but I lean towards having just a variety of fixed seating (with probably a couple adjustable seats just in case), because it's likely to be less expensive but also may add a nice visual touch or atmosphere.

Wheelchair-friendly booths — There would be other seating options for wheelchair users (ideally most/all of the freestanding seating could accommodate a wheelchair), but what about booths? Of course, wheelchair users can always just sit on the "aisle" seat, the outside, and this should always be a choice. But I know that it can be easy for the chair/user to get kicked or walked into when in the aisle like that, and sometimes it can feel like that person is "on the outside" of the booth group figuratively as well as literally. For this reason, I've been toying with designs for sectional booths where the outermost seat can be removed to accommodate a wheelchair more "inside" the booth. For the purposes of this exercise, think of a booth as a horseshoe with the table in the middle, the "tip" of either leg could be removable.

Wheelchair-friendly bar? — Now, this one I have more trouble conceptualizing. I asked my bartending partner about why bars and barstools are so high (I am clearly not the barkeep here, though I'll need to learn the basics). Aside from various traditional reasons, the reason that made most sense to me was that there's a lot of equipment stored under those tall bars. So, maybe lowering the bar is an option, but it's not one I'm tempted by if there are other options. So, is there a way to let wheelchair users in on the same fun belly-up-to-the-bar atmosphere safely? This is one where I'm still casting about for ideas!

[edit cap notes a few concerns/ideas in this area, including the necessity for space underneath the bar to accommodate a wheelchair user]

Anyway, those are just some preliminary thoughts! What do y'all think?