The municipal elections are upon us! I was very happy to be asked by the organizers to visit each physical voting station to test out the accessibility before the voting started. I am not an expert on all disabilities by any means, but I did my best to give helpful suggestions. and catch anything that I thought was an improvement for accessibility. I checked out the Easton’s Corners Hall and the Merrickville Community Centre.
I mentioned a few things like parking and accessible drop-off zones, but overall they did very well. As I’ve said before, nothing is fully accessible, but I think they have most of the bases covered. They have a removable chair for wheelchairs, magnifying sheets for those with low vision, paper and pens to communicate with those who are non-verbal, have hearing loss or both, and (now) working actuators on the doors. I did suggest that they have a staff member available for some of the doors and thresholds as well as any other assistance required. Another idea that was brought up was to make the accessible voting station the one closest to the entry for those who have a hard time walking long distances.
I’m very excited that they reached out to me, because it means they are actively thinking about accessibility as part of the planning process. That’s what we want to see! Do you find an problems when you go to vote? Have you ever noticed any accommodations your election organizers make for persons with disabilities? Let me know in the comments! The more awareness there is of useful accommodations the better!
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