Fun with access!

[baratron]

Well, that was one of the more amusing/mortifying moments of my life. So I went to the free lunch with the visiting speaker today, & that was all well & good. I had a jacket potato with baked beans, but I could also have had soup or salad. Then I tried to go to the lecture. 40 minutes of wandering later, I got confirmation from UCL Room Bookings that no, that venue really isn't wheelchair accessible.

So it looks like I went to the lunch because it was free but couldn't actually be arsed to attend the lecture afterwards. I need to find the lecturer's email address & apologise.

Also, I went back to the Graduate Office in my department at Birkbeck (= rather small College of the University of London) to complain, & they were shocked that UCL (= large & prestigious College of the U o L) had rooms which weren't accessible! Dudes... Did you think to ask?

Though I found out that the Graduate Symposium isn't in Mill Hill at all, it's in UCL. This would be good, if not for the fact it's currently booked to be in the same venue that I couldn't get into today. Laugh? It's that or cry.

Comments

[hatter.livejournal.com]

Go with the laugh. You tried stuff and found what were actual problems and what things weren't problems at all. Better than not trying and just guessing what the problems might be that might stop you from doing stuff.


the hatter

[anansi133.livejournal.com]

I'll bet having a stair-climbing robotic wheelchair on hand to lend out would be cheaper than retrofitting the architecture. probably not very comfortable, but I like to think about robotic stair climbing wheelchairs.

[nitoda]

I don't at all think you need to apologise to the lecturer for your being unable to access the room they were using. Complaining would seem more natural to me. Incredible that they still have rooms which aren't accessible.