Your Letters - March 2008

Barred from the web, too

You highlighted the failure of nightclubs to provide information about the accessibility of their venues on their websites (Disability Now February, Clubbing Together). But if you’re blind or have difficulty using a computer mouse you may find the clubs’ websites inaccessible as well. I had a look at the sites listed in your piece and found that they all fail basic accessibility tests. Thousands of disabled people won’t be able to use those websites to find out more about the clubs. While adjustments to buildings can sometimes be tricky and expensive to accommodate, it’s relatively simple to make a website accessible to disabled people. Web designers just need to perform some basic accessibility checks and get some disabled people to try their sites before they go live. All the guidance web designers need has been published in a single report, which is available free from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, entitled PAS 78: Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning

Accessible Websites: www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publicationsandresources/Disability/Pages/Websiteaccessibilityguidance.aspx

Julie Howell, author, Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites (BSI, 2006)

Price hikes are making crisis worse

I am with you all the way on winter fuel payments (Disability Now February, Campaigns). It is very difficult keeping up payments for gas and electricity. I am with npower and they’ve just put up the price of gas by 17 per cent.

I live on my own, claim jobseekers allowance (disabled premium), own my own house and try not to use central heating. I pay for gas by payment card every two weeks; npower gets £80 per month from me and I pay £10 to Southern Electric.

It is a lot of money to come out of my money when petrol prices and food prices are going up as well. I think we should get help with heating costs, as pensioners do. We’ve got to keep warm as well.

I had the Warm Front thing done, but I don’t think it makes much difference in bringing bills down. I must keep warm but I’m frightened to put the heating on.

This government wants everybody to freeze.

Keep up the good work on getting help with heating. Good luck!

D J Golden (address supplied)

Cruising can be bruising

I should like to respond to Marion Webb’s letter (Cruising IS plain sailing, Disability Now February, Your Views). The last few cruises we have had have been with Royal Caribbean International (RCI). The one to the Baltic Islands was dreadfully disappointing.

I had always dreamed of going to Norway but most of the first three days were spent trying to book an accessible taxi to meet us at the dockside. They simply had no idea. Copenhagen was a struggle for my mobility-impaired husband and we returned to the ship, as he was exhausted. When we reached Oslo, we had just come off the ship when an excursion desk rep called to us and said we could hire a wheelchair-accessible van for three hours at a cost of £400, but a guide would cost extra. We declined.

On return to Scotland, I wrote to RCI to say that I thought the charge for accessible transport was extortionate and that none of the non-disabled passengers would be expected to pay that amount for any of the arranged trips. Our next cruise in October has been booked through P&O.

Diane Shaw, retired disability advisor, University of Dundee

Hate: web-links could help

Having seen the news last night re Brent Martin (above), and reference made to your Hate Crimes dossier, I checked out your website today. I was a little surprised that there is no obvious link for your readers to report disability hate crime online. I understand that there may still be hurdles to overcome with reporting in this manner but without the authorities knowing about as many incidents as possible, their hands may be a little tied.

I work in Tameside, Greater Manchester, as a hate crime co-ordinator. I have a specific remit to improve the opportunities for all to report hate crime at third party reporting centres. I have been advocating links from websites to the police to report incidents and we are just about to re-launch our third party centres with training and awareness for staff.

We have links to the council and the libraries are getting involved too. It’s about finding as many ways as possible to capture all the information regarding hate and then perhaps we may just raise the profile high enough to get proper and dedicated resources. Many thanks. I will now be a regular reader of your site.

Andy Searle, by email

In despair over hate crime reports

I have read today with horror the hate crimes report on your website. What is going wrong in the UK? It is truly sad that the law seems to fail us all – disabled people in particular. It seems that not even murder interests the police anymore. When exactly is a hate crime recorded? I despair. I wish you every success with your campaign, but feel powerless to do or say more.

Connie Feller, by email

Oscar’s Olympic ban was harsh

Oscar Pistorius’s ban from competing in the Olympic Games (Disability Now February, Sport Now) seems incredibly harsh to me. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled that his carbon fibre blades give him a “clear mechanical advantage”. Is that not more than offset by the clear disadvantage of having both legs amputated below the knee? If we analyse Oscar’s “blades”, do we not then have to assess every athlete’s running shoes and even his shorts and vest to ensure they give him no advantage?

Spencer Arnott, Holmer Green, Buckinghamshire

Peter’s friend could offer some advice

I liked the picture of Peter Hain with Stephen Lloyd accepting a reward in this month’s magazine (Disability Now February, Welfare Reform – are you scared yet?). Perhaps Stephen would like to offer Mr Hain some advice on filling in forms correctly – and who knows, perhaps help in finding a new job?

Alan Steadman, by email

Supermarkets should clamp down on abuse

Supermarkets should be encouraged to mark their disabled spaces as chargeable to anyone not displaying a valid blue badge, the fee to be exorbitant enough to attract policing by a clamping organisation. A large local garden centre charges £70 for the disabled spaces if no badge is displayed, enforced by clamping.
I note that disabled bays in France carry the legend, “If you take my space please take my disability”. This might help trigger the conscience of some drivers.

Mr A J Hoare, Haltwhistle, Northumberland