Each of us is a tourist. Let's go on a trip. We come to visit friends in the city. Sightseeing, after a while we understand - we are hungry. We start looking, where can we dine. We go without problems to any cafe we like.
Are we thinking at this moment about, that the cafe may be inaccessible to someone? Perhaps, no.
Interesting, Are there cafes available for people, wheelchair users, In Nizhniy Novgorod?..
Yesterday "Invatur" conducted the expedition "Let's try to eat" within the framework of the project "Available. Hospitably", supported by the Nizhny-800 team. The project is aimed at increasing the tourist potential of the city and its tourist accessibility for people with various disabilities.
Several people , wheelchair users, went to one of the main tourist streets of the city - Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, where there are many cafes and restaurants. Our task was to survey three key points of accessibility of catering places: entrance to the cafe, passage to the hall and is there a toilet available in the cafe. We went to a cafe and talked: We are tourists, would like to have lunch, it is possible? We were gladly answered by the staff - of course, come through, we have ramps, and find a table for you.
At a glance, everything seemed within reach.. In fact, there were problems even just to go to a cafe. In one of the cafes, a narrow door and the stroller could not pass. In the other- there is a ramp, but it is either narrow, either too cool. Yes, and the thresholds in some establishments are high and become a significant obstacle to passage..
It also happened: entrance available, but the passage to the cafe hall turned out to be up or down the stairs. The same story with toilets in institutions.
noteworthy, that the employees of catering establishments were sincerely perplexed, that, in fact, ramps and thresholds are unsuitable for wheelchair access, what to go into the hall and take a table for people, wheelchair users, is an insurmountable problem due to the lack of proper accessibility. The barista of one of the coffee shops was so imbued with the whole situation, asked us for a long time, what to consider when creating the accessibility of a cafe. At the end of the conversation, he suggested: “Let me make coffee for you and bring it outside.. For the future, do not be shy, come to us and we will endure everything for you, what do you need!”
“And if it rains, cold, I have to drink coffee outside?-Svetlana Kupolova answers. You see, we want to sit at the table with a cup of coffee, enjoy the atmosphere of the establishment. On the street somehow everything is not right”.
Fortunately, after a long search, we managed to find the only place on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, more or less meeting the accessibility requirements, and we were able to have lunch.
Filmed our search for a place to dine, and there will be a video about it soon.. Be sure to share them with you on our website and in the VKontakte group..
Undoubtedly, upsets the situation with the inaccessibility of cafes and restaurants, after all, agree, how nice after a walk to go to a cafe and have a cup of coffee or a delicious lunch. The more we talk about the nuances of the inaccessibility of cafes and restaurants, the more likely it is that restaurateurs will listen and in the future they will begin to think over accessibility or try to correct existing shortcomings.
