Restaurants including metal straws as cutlery
It sounds so simple, including metal straws in their usual cutlery drawers but this would be so beneficial to people like myself, who have to stress over remembering to take a straw out with them.
Stop having ridiculously high shelves in supermarkets
This one probably doesn’t require much explanation but I’ve seen shelves in supermarkets too high for people who aren’t in wheelchairs. I think layouts of supermarkets in general need to be changed. It’s simply cruel and unfair that some products are just too high up for anyone to reach but shopping in a wheelchair is already challenging, having products too high to reach is just another unnecessary challenge wheelchair users face.
Companies should have people with poor fine motor test packaging and products
There’s nothing more frustrating to me than buying a new product (shampoo, perfume etc) and not being able to get through the packaging. Currently I live with my family so I have people who can help me, but I have always had an aim to be able to live independently. I think it would be so annoying if I ended up not being able to buy things because of the way that they’re packaged. I feel a packaging revolution where brands start using eco friendly, easily openable packaging could be both beneficial to disabled people and the environment.
Make accessible bathrooms as nice as normal ones
I’m someone who when I was younger I needed to use the accessible bathroom because I needed help, now I tend to use the ladies bathroom when I’m out because I don’t require much help. I’ve always noticed that accessible bathrooms are never as clean as the other bathrooms and it really irritates me. It’s also annoying when the accessible bathrooms are locked and you have to ask for a key. I think that is just pointless and an excuse for the building to keep people out so they don’t need to clean it. I understand they might not want able bodied people to use it but I feel like locking it is not the answer. Generally able bodied people who use disabled bathrooms are terrible people so I feel that pure guilt tripping people is better than locking it.
(I do understand that not all disabilities are obvious, this is simply about the able bodied people who use it because they can)
Make mobility aids less expensive
You know a really fun game for companies? How much money can we get out of disabled people. I swear that whenever I see accessible products online, they are either really expensive unless they’re advertised towards old people or really expensive because able bodied people think they’re cool. For example, Nike released some easy put on shoes which were originally designed for disabled people and for some reason because it’s Nike all the able bodied people want a pair. The shoes are around £120, this is an almost unaffordable price for a majority of disabled people. The fact that they have created a product that could help so many people, myself included, and priced it so highly just makes me feel disgusted. They had an opportunity to bring out these shoes and show other brands that accessibility is important and necessary but instead they are simply showing the same old, youthful, able bodied models.