• Melllvar@startrek.website
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    10 months ago

    Of all the things you could reasonably criticize the US over, wheelchair accessibility ain’t one of them. Especially compared to Europe.

    • gmtom@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Especially compared to Europe?

      What? Europe very sound protection for the disabled. Putside of historical buildings built before disability care you won’t find better access anywhere.

      I get America is pretty good too, but your comment makes it sound like Europe is a nightmare for the disabled.

      • Camelbeard@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Not sure about how good or bad it is in the US, but in the Netherlands (a place that is known for good infrastructure) it’s definitely not perfect.

        I never realised until we got a baby and I started walking with a stroler. Way too often the sidewalk is inaccessible because of cars or bicycles. Also lots of places without ramps or elevators.

        • Tankton@lemm.ee
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          10 months ago

          You have a sidewalk, that is obstructed sometimes. Having a sidewalk puts in like the top 10% of countries instantly lol

      • viking@infosec.pub
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        10 months ago

        America has way more wheelchair ramps due to the critically obese population, so the statement is still mostly true.

      • Tvkan@feddit.de
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        10 months ago

        Europe very sound protection for the disabled. Putside of historical buildings built before disability care you won’t find better access anywhere.

        But that’s the point: Most buildings were built before disability care, and haven’t been upgraded.* Think about your favorite restaurant, bar, kebab place, corner shop etc. – I don’t think any of mine are wheelchair accessible. Also good luck taking a train in Germany, where many platforms aren’t wheelchair accessible and they might or might not have a lift to get you into the train.

        The Americans with Disabilites Act (ADA) is miles ahead of any legal framework that I’m aware of in Europe. The US is a broken country in many ways, but that doesn’t mean that literally anything and everything has to be worse than in glorious Europe.

        *The former is true for the US too, but the ADA still required many of them to make reasonable accomodations.

        • gmtom@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Think about your favorite restaurant, bar, kebab place, corner shop etc.

          All have wheelchair ramps. Even the townhall that was built in the 1700s has a wheelchair ramp, as does the church built in the 1400s.

          I only know a handful of places that are in the centre of dense cities that don’t have them.

          Then if I wanted to make comparisons to the US, yes lots of buildings are wheelchair acceptable, but they still expect you to drive between those buildings, even if you’re disabled, so sidewalks and crossing points are abysmal.

      • Melllvar@startrek.website
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        10 months ago

        I get that Europe is pretty good too, but the OP makes it sound like America is a nightmare for the disabled.

        You do see my point, you just don’t like it.

    • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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      10 months ago

      huh? america is absolute garbage for wheelchair access, the ADA is absolutely not sufficient

      fuckin have fun navigating the average suburb with a wheelchair, you can’t even walk to the store in most places

      • Pratai@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        you can’t even walk to the store in most places

        I’d imagine walking to the store in a wheelchair to be incredibly difficult.

        • Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Technically in common disability parlance the motion of movement in a wheel chair is still considered “walking” just like listening to an audiobook is considered “reading” for visually impaired people.

          Basically it accepts the whatever means you get to the end product as being a synonyms with the verbs those used by abled people.

          Learned this from my librarian buddies.

      • Melllvar@startrek.website
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        10 months ago

        Google tells me that the US is ranked #5 in the world behind Japan, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands.

      • Xtallll@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        10 months ago

        In most of America you can’t walk to the store even if you don’t use a wheelchair. At my old place I could see a grocery store from my house, but it was on the other side of a limited access road, I had to go 1.5miles to a pedestrian overpass to be able to get to it making it a 6 mile walk to get 100 yards.

    • Fades@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Lmao yes, we are one of the best in that regard.

      Thank you American Disability Act!!

      • Melllvar@startrek.website
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        10 months ago

        I get what the tweet is trying to say. What I’m saying is that wheelchair accessibility is a particularly bad example for that point.

        • Tja@programming.dev
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          10 months ago

          It’s an excellent example. Politicians take something the US does great, and fuck it up because of their religious zealousy.

    • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      On the other hand, disallowin wheelchair ramps because there are not mentioned in the Bible would be a very American move.

    • query@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I thought the idea was that Republicans are actively working on destroying what has been working fine and is benefitting lots of people, not just on preventing more progress.

        • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Abortion rights, voting rights, gay marriage, privacy, trans rights, immigration, housing, the economy, net neutrality, take your pick.

      • gaifux@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        As if Democrats don’t do the exact same thing in lock step. Interesting where your focus lies however. It’s helpful though because it indicates your bias.

        • M137@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          The ignorance you’re showing here is absolutely astounding. Banning things and removing certain people’s rights is a defining part of US republican politics. Every damn week, there’s a new thing they’ve decided is evil and needs to be banned. That’s very much not the case with US democrat politics. Sure, there are things they too want to ban or change, but it’s based on logic and not a constant stream of new things.

          • gaifux@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Yes, thankfully the Democrats aren’t the party of trying to ban stuff. Imagine if they were, and came out of nowhere to like ban gas stoves, gas cars, freedom of medical choices, and gender affirming surgery for kids. If any of that was true then I’d have a pretty good point, but thankfully it isn’t. Right?