Long time, no see

An awful long time has passed since the last posting. The whole "user experience" / look & feel of this blog feels at least 10 years old. Better get re-started soon....

SOS METHANA in Greece Petition

SOS METHANA in Greece Petition

Read the latest news and issues from ENAT - The European Network for Accessible Tourism

RSS feed from www.accessibletourism.org

Athens 2004 - a good piece of writing

Here's a good description of the "new " Athens, as it emerged for the Olympic Games in August 2004 .

Prices have gone up since but the info is still pretty much up to date.

Follow this link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/08/TRGHQ82IFE1.DTL

Access to lifts on Greek ferryboats and the Acropolis

Here comes a terribly long posting..... well, it's been quiet for a while.

I wrote this piece to Athens News after I read a Letter to the Editor in the Athens News (Lifting Wheelchairs on Ferries) last week.

[UPDATE 28.3.2008: My letter, below (well 2/3 of it), was published in today's Athens News].
If anyone wants to translate it into Greek and post it to the relevant authorities, you are very welcome.

Here is a picture of passengers in the chaotic disembarking / embarking contest which happens every time a ferryboat docks at the Port of Piraeaus! It's always been like this so why change it now? (Click on the photo to see the picture full size).

Oh! I am digressing. Please read on....

To the Editor, Athens News. 18.3.2008

From: Ivor Ambrose, European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT)

Email: enat@accessibletourism.org

Web: www.accessibletourism.org

Comment: Inclusive Access for Greek Citizens and Tourists

By Ivor Ambrose, European Network for Accessible Tourism

Mrs. Waterman, who wrote to Athens News (Letters to the Editor, 14 March 2008) is, of course, absolutely right. Her husband has a medical condition preventing him from climbing stairs. But when travelling on a Greek ferry they were initially refused access to the lift to take them from the car deck to the passenger decks, as Mr. Waterman does not have a disability permit nor does he use a wheelchair, both of which, they were told, are required by “The Regulations”. Only after a hefty argument were they allowed to take the lift, and then only with the unsettling message that this was an exception, not to be repeated.

The regulations for carrying passengers in lifts may have made sense to the team of bureaucrats who penned them but in applying the rule in practice, common sense is thrown overboard, the ship’s captain becomes a sea monster and the fare-paying passengers have the prospect of experiencing what should be a delightful Mediterranean sea journey from the confines of the ship’s bilges.

This sad episode has probably been replicated many times all over Greece. I have a similar lift-regulation-experience from the Acropolis of Athens, a World Heritage Site, which was made accessible for “People with Special Needs” in 2004 by means of a remarkable stair lift and a near-vertical lift which scales the western wall of the edifice. In 2005 I visited the Acropolis with a group of international experts in Accessible Tourism, three of whom use wheelchairs. The walkers in our group took the main path while the wheelchair users were directed to the lift entrance. As our party included a Greek mother with two small children, one sitting in a pushchair, she followed the wheelchair group towards the lift entrance. However, she was refused access to the lift as the guards (- it is hard to call them assistants) told her she was not considered a “Person with Special Needs”, and was therefore not allowed to use the lift. She was left waiting outside, unable to enter the Acropolis at all. At the top we also met an elderly American lady who had struggled to make the long climb with a recently sprained ankle, (twisted, unfortunately, on an Athenian pavement). She had not been informed of the lift access at the main gate, she told us, but had noticed the elevator at the top and asked if she could use it to descend. ‘The lift is only for wheelchair users’, said the two lift attendants. Do you have a disability permit? No, of course she did not! On their refusal, with her painful ankle and her feelings also hurt, she turned and took the long walk down. Certainly, this was an unforgettable tourist experience of Greece!

The lessons of these examples go far beyond the immediate issue of inconvenience and degrading treatment inflicted on the unfortunate passengers and tourists who find themselves on the wrong side of the ‘exclusive’ Greek lift regulations.

The well-known Greek term “Ατομα με Ειδικές Ανάγκες” (A.M.E.A.) – Persons with Special Needs – was defined ten years ago in the Accessibility Guidelines of the Hellenic Ministry of Environment to include: persons with permanent or temporary functional impairments… as well as persons who may be frail, such as those of the third or fourth age, and people of large or small physical stature and also those who, for example carry heavy luggage. [1]

The Greek Accessibility Guidelines take the needs of disabled people as the yardstick for inclusive design, which aims to make environments accessible and usable for all, meaning both disabled and non-disabled persons. It was these guidelines which, along with the national building regulations and transport regulations, so successfully produced the accessibility provisions for visitors and spectators at the Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This makes it all the more puzzling that the present lift regulation goes against the official policy of an inclusive approach to the design and use of lifts. This deserves to be investigated, clarified, and possibly corrected. Is it the regulation itself which is at fault or the lack of awareness and training among those who should apply it? Or perhaps a bit of both?

A well-designed, accessible environment, when managed correctly, is good for all people, and it makes full participation in travel and social life possible for those with disabilities. Lifts, ramps and spoken announcements of train stations on the Metro are all examples of features that make mobility easier for everyone. But if the regulatory authorities and those in charge of transport or visitor attractions lack awareness of customers’ access needs, then the best designed facilities in the world will not give full benefit to all users.

Spreading greater awareness about accessibility and the best means of achieving it for everyone is the primary aim of the ‘European Network for Accessible Tourism’ (ENAT), a non-profit association registered in Brussels with its Secretariat in Halandri, Athens. ENAT was formed with European Union support in 2006 by a group of nine organisations, including the Hellenic Ministry of Tourism, VisitBritain and disability NGOs from six EU Member States, including the Greek ΝGΟ ‘Disability Now’ (ΑΝΑΠΗΡΙΑ ΤΩΡΑ). ENAT now has over 440 members in 52 countries. The members include tourism and travel enterprises, policy makers, national authorities, tourism education and training bodies, user organisations, professionals and some individuals. The network is actively sharing information about good accessibility practices in every area of tourism though the website www.accessibletourism.org and by means of international events and publications.

For those in the tourism industry the most compelling reasons to take note of the accessibility issue are to do with the demographic ageing of the populations of Europe and other western economies, which is reflected in rising numbers of older tourists around the world. The 55+ age group is the fastest growing inbound market segment in the UK. They spend more, stay longer and travel throughout the year, as opposed to younger age groups. These tourists, who may have small impairments or health problems as they get older, might not call themselves ‘disabled’ but they certainly want to continue travelling. And they have expectations about good accessibility at airports, in hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, and of course in planes, ferries, buses and taxis.

The University of Surrey School of Tourism Management estimated in 2005 that the ‘accessible tourism market’ of older and disabled people and their families, (as these customers don’t usually travel alone), amounts to around 130 million people in Europe alone, with a potential revenue of some 80 million Euro per year.

ENAT wants these customers to enjoy travel in Europe and we want to help tourism providers meet this challenge, competently and with confidence. The task requires networking and greater use of standards for accessible infrastructure and staff training, as well as partnerships between tourism enterprises, the public sector and user organisations, to build the right frameworks and leverage this growing market.

Here in Greece, tackling lack of awareness about customers’ access needs and rights, and removing access barriers should be an ongoing and urgent priority of all actors – the public regulators, enterprises, Chambers of Commerce, trade associations, passenger transport businesses and others – both for the good of citizens living in Greece and the millions of visitors who come here to experience the best that Greece has to offer. The job of making Greece accessible wasn’t finished in 2004. There is much more to be done!

Of course, customers’ needs are one thing, their rights are another. Those who manage public places and provide services for payment, such as archaeological sites and ferry transport, must actively avoid discriminating against any groups of citizens who have the same right to access. Paying customers should be given the same level of service, wherever possible. In practical terms it does not make sense to distinguish between the access rights of local citizens and the rights of visitors from other countries, who have paid to enjoy the same services, nor between ‘able-bodied’ and disabled visitors. Such discrepancies run contrary to UN human rights policies, and it is worth noting that consumer protection legislation is moving inexorably against such unequal treatment both in European Union countries and the rest of the world.

Perhaps the most important lesson from Mr. and Mrs. Waterman’s ferry boat experience is that all of those who are engaged in the tourism and travel industry, from the policy makers to the deck-hand, must pay attention to the demands of all those customers who need good access, otherwise the market will either simply go elsewhere or, taking the other tack, we might expect a burgeoning growth of legal proceedings against providers – or the State - on the grounds of discriminatory practices. Far better then, to meet access demands with improved information, better awareness and infrastructure that is designed for and usable by all citizens.

Ivor Ambrose is Managing Director of the European Network for Accessible Tourism

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[1] Greek Accessibility Guidelines, Ministry of Environment (1998) in Greek only. http://www.minenv.gr/1/16/162/16203/g1620300.html

Bollard-forest in Kifisia

This summer the Municipality of Kifissia received a new delivery of bollards, you know - those handy posts for preventing cars driving on pavements.

But it seems no-one read the "Directions for Use" on the box!

In the Nea Kifissia neighbourhood you can find this bizarre bollard-chicane, presumably designed to slow down fast-walking pedestrians.

What were they thinking?

Well, sure, it might cause some problems to the pizza-delivery boys on their mopeds, but what about the wheelchair user and pram-pushing parents? Pavements are for people!

You can get the full background (in Greek) at Makis Polis' blog, here:
http://aiolias.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html

Write to the Municipality: anak@otenet.gr

Porsche beats wheelchair in close Kifissia race

To the naked eye, it looked like a dead-heat, but the camera does not lie. It was a photo-finish in this unscheduled race over a zebra-crossing in Kifissia, Athens but clearly the wheelchair user came a close second to the Porsche Boxter. The lucky winner has not claimed his prize, and since the license plates were removed he may never collect his trophy.
(Of course, this was not really a race - just a bit of "pavement parking", which the Porsche owner blatantly copied from the Jeep owner next to him). Our friend, Makis, looks on in total bemusement. Yes, it pays to have a good sense of humour - especially in Kifissia, where the rich-and-careless outnumber the law-abiding by about 10:1).
Pavement-parking afficianodos will note that the wheelchair user was actually hindered in parking next to the Porsche by the position of a "No Waiting" signpost, which is planted on the pavement exactly in line with the centre of the zebra crossing. But since both competitors had an equal chance of hitting this obstacle there is little chance of the race stewards declaring a re-match.

Zebra declared endangered species in Marousi

Returning to a long-standing obsession of mine - the pedestrian environment in Marousi, Athens - it is a pleasure to report that a new zebra crossing has been spotted between Ermou Street and the Railway Station forecourt. However, the car-driving natives seem oblivious to the significance of these rare animals, with their contrasting stripes adorning the road surface. The "free parking" attitude prevails. But with the local "Everest" sandwich bar just 10 metres from one end of the crossing - where better to park one's car? Yes, both these cars were parked illegally on 02.04.2007 at 08.40. Morning coffee time.
Tip for traffic wardens: Click on photo to read car number plates and issue two fines in one go!