To: Dan Fingerman, Task Force on Implementation of 504

November 18, 1977 From: Susan O'Hara, Physically Disabled Students' Program
Re: Student Comments on Program Accessibility on the University of California, Berkeley campus

The following are verbatim comments from a group of new students in wheelchairs. Starred items were emphasized repeatedly by students.

1. Doors
   • a. Doors swinging both ways are needed all over the campus.
   • **b. Doors are hard to open; too narrow; double; heavy; one has to relv on passers-by, if they're available.
   • c. Example of a good door - entrance to Wurster.
   • **d. There are no signs to know how to find accessible doors.
2. Elevators
   • **a. Elevator buttons are too high; there is often something blocking the outside button, e.g. ash trays, trash bin.
   • b. Some elevator doors close too fast, e.g. Tolman.
   • c. Suggestion: attach a light-weight stick inside the elevator near the buttons so that disabled persons can reach the buttons with it.
   • d. Could there be light sensors for elevators?
3. Classrooms
   • a. Science tables are too high
   • b. In Dwinelle 155 and 145, disabled students must sit way up in back, and are completely seperated from the class of 40 who sit down front.
4. Other considerations
   • a. I don't want to come in "through the back. I want to enter the same wav as everyone else."
   • b. Water fountains are too high.
   • c. Some "accessible" washrooms don't have wide enough doors, e.g., Moffitt, basement of Dwinelle.
   • d. Not all curbs are cut, e.g. around the campanile.
   • e. Physically Disabled Students' Program - get a better ramp, sweep the floor, delays in procuring materials for MSE wheelchair conversions.
5. Specific Buildings
   • ** a. Dwinelle - entrance is too narrow; elevator buttons too high.
   • b. Moffitt - furniture has to be moved en route to elevator; inconvenient - many more "steps" than other people.
   • c. International Relations Library, Stephens Hall, no elevator 3rd floor; Librarians are very pleasant and helpful but disabled students must ask someone to call from the basement and ask librarian to bring books down. A feeling of imposing on people.
   • d. Wheeler, Barrows, and Sproul need more than one entrance (sic) (Interesting that student doesn't know of second accessible entrance to Wheeler - SOH.)
   • e. Dwinell and Wheeler - stairs within building on one level, dividing sections of building by several stairs. No elevators to solve this problem.

The following are comments from blind students;

• * 1. Elevators
  • a. buttons not labelled;
  • b. no way to know which floor one has arrived at. Suggestion - clicking sounds for each floor.
• 2. Need for campus directory in braille.
• 3. Need for directory in each building to locate offices and classrooms.
• 4. Braille numbers needed on office and classroom doors.
• 5. No way to know the numbering system in any given building.
• * Tolman is hard to find - no landmarks, e.g. different textures of paving.