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'Un' accessible toilets

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axwy62
axwy62 Community member Posts: 142 Pioneering
edited November 2018 in Disability rights and campaigning
Since toilets are a theme at the moment, I thought I'd share these photographs of the supposedly accessible toilet at Portsmouth Ferry Port. Apologies for the quality, taken with my phone through the car window as it was raining quite heavily, but you can still see the helpfully highlighted step and less than helpfully positioned barrier.

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  • axwy62
    axwy62 Community member Posts: 142 Pioneering
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    Sorry, second photograph won't upload for some reason, but it only gives a close up of the step.
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  • Pippa_Alumni
    Pippa_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,793 Disability Gamechanger
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    Oh dear @axwy62, that doesn't look particularly helpful!
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  • Markmywords
    Markmywords Community member Posts: 419 Pioneering
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    There are no standards that they have to meet other than door width :(
    Perish the thought that they would ever ask disabled people!
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  • DavidJ
    DavidJ Community member Posts: 55 Pioneering
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    Hi All 
    Heres another post about disabled toilet access.I do a little freelance work and during that I generally check out the facilities as I am in a wheelchair and need to go when I need to go .
    I carry an emergency toilet in my minibus too just in case .
    I saw Markmywords post re size of toilet etc and I went through some of the paperwork I have and I found this
    dimensions for disabled wc using a wheelchair 
    2200mm long
    1500mm wide
      900 mm door opening
      950mm wide outward opening door 
    These I think are minimum standard and are wall to wall ,so depending on where you put the porcelain depends on how usable it is 
    DDA compliant I am not sure so it could be guidance or compulsory 
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  • DavidJ
    DavidJ Community member Posts: 55 Pioneering
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    I am not answering my above post but thought I would slip another story in while my brain still flushing them out !!
    Access to wc in a large store .
    You have to go up in the lift sir and it’s next to the ladies changing /fitting room .
    So off I go in the lift up two floors . No problem lift is big enough .
    I came out of lift as per instructions and headed down a corridor for ladies changing rooms . The corridor was not overly wide but I was greatly relieved to see that the baby change was separate to the disabled loo. It was unoccupied so I sidled up to the door and opened it . My chair was in the way so I jiggled it around in the confined corridor and eventually got it open .
    Oh my how do I fit in here?? Slowly I edged my way in but I couldn’t turn in any direction because  it wasn’t much wider than my chair !! When I was in I tried to figure out how I could get to loo and lock the door . I couldn’t reach behind to lock the door but I really had to GO !! Fortunately no one came in and then I used the back of my chair to push the door open . By this time help  was at hand by a young lady with a baby going to baby change so she held the heavy door so I could get out. I could only come out the way I came in ... backwards !! She pushed the door to and I thanked her . She opened the door to the baby changer and my jaw almost hit the floor !! The room had four sinks , two or three changers on the wall and I could have played wheelchair football in there!!!! It must have been at least 12x12 ft that room and there’s me going down the corridor backwards because I couldn’t turn around .
    I have a wicked sense of humour so there is no outrage in my tales of the dis wc Type your comment
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  • DavidJ
    DavidJ Community member Posts: 55 Pioneering
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    @Pippa_Scope last one for tonight !!
    A little light humour this time .
    I was dining in a supermarket cafe and sat at the disabled access table .
    You all now this one because it has the disabled symbol burnt into the top of it ! That story later,.
    After a while I had to excuse myself as I needed to go wc 
    Now I knew that in this particular place there was a baby changer in the disabled wc . So I was praying that no one was in there .My prayers were not answered this particular day tho as when I got to the wc it was locked .
    So I sat outside and made a queue (embarrassing or what).
    All I could hear is a load of children talking and laughing . I knew they were in the Accessible toilet so I knew that baby was being changed ! I couldn’t wait so went out to my car and used my portable one inside the car . Unfortunately I needed more than just a wee , so having done that I went back thinking the loo would be free by now ! Well it wasn’t ! Someone else had got there before me and was sat in a little scooter waiting to go in .She said to me that I would have to join the queue .I could still hear the children .
    Suddenly the door burst open and a pile of children trooped out . About 7 in all of varying young ages .Unfortunately their mum had just finished breast feeding the youngest and hadn’t put everything away when the kids opened the door !! She was mortified to see us all standing/sitting outside the door . I don’t have a problem with breast feeding anyway so to save her embarrassment I started singing !!
    Hi ho hi ho it’s off to work we go as all these kids came trooping out ! Everyone burst out laughing and gave the mum time to cover up !!
    Afterwards I thought how did she do that?? 7 kids and a pushchair plus herself in a disabled loo I could barely get myself in !!
    Was it Snow White and the seven dwarfs or was it the new Doctor Who and the Tardis ?
    Goodnight all 
    Sleet well 
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