Tanisha Sepulveda was at a community center in Tukwila, Washington. She lives in Seattle, just 15 minutes away by car. But as a wheelchair user and disability justice advocate, she noticed that the infrastructure around the building lacked basic features for accessibility.
“The nearest bus drops you off 20 minutes walking distance from there, and there’s almost no sidewalks to get there,” she said. “How can this be a community center when it’s literally only serving a neighborhood and people who can drive?”
While the building itself may have been ADA compliant, the ADA is the “bare minimum when it comes to the actual needs of people with disabilities,” said Sepulveda. “How does one evaluate the ADA of a building [when] it’s so much more than just the building itself?”
Four years ago, the nonprofit Disability Rights Washington launched the Disability Mobility Initiative to spread awareness of systemic issues non-drivers face when trying to fully participate in their communities.
Have more mobility news that we should be reading and sharing? Let us know! Reach out to Sage Kashner (kashner@ctaa.org).
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