Accessibility

It occurs to me that it might behoove us both if I were to explore the accessibility issues I come across in my travels. After all, an occasion may arise when you may find the information useful.

Sunrise has a heavy front door with no automatic opener, so a person in a wheelchair is dependant on obtaining the help of a healthy person in order to get in or out. When I've complained about this to the front desk, I've been told it was "done on purpose".

The National Gallery seems quite accessible to me. I didn't see any problems.

The Corcoran gallery is quite a challenge. A person using a wheelchair has to use a back door. This takes the patron to a long bare service hallway. The patron then checks in with building personnel who are behind an elevated desk. The patron is then sent down another service hallway. When I reached the end of the hall, no one was about, and I had to search inside what seemed to be an employee break room to find someone to explain that I was to use the freight elevator, which was in front of me. This employee then used his walkie talkie to locate security personnel to operate the elevator. The elevator itself was the size if a small room or large closet. It had no enclosed wall on one side, just a gate, so the rider could see the inside of the building to past. The doors were huge metal things. They made a slamming sound when they were pushed shut. The operator ran the elevator with a panel of old timey controls. While touring the building, anytime the patron wants to go to a different floor (there are 2 or 3) the patron has to get a security guard and use the same elevator. Also, there is one occasion in the main gallery where the exhibit continues up several stairs. Upon asking, I found out that by going into an adjacent room and out a particular door on has access to a ramp, but there were no signs at the stairs where everyone else went up that indicated this.

The Phillips Collection is divided into galleries in the main building and galleries in the "house". The major problem encountered in the main building is the double panel, lightweight swinging doors which provide admittance to the building. No patron in a wheelchair could maneuver these without help.

To get to the "house", the only accessible route is to go back outside and go down a steep, windy ramp that I found to be insufficiently signed. Upon reaching the bottom of the ramp, one encounters a door that it is impossible for a wheelchair to get through without assistance, for there is no room on the landing for a wheelchair to manuver. This door really needs a push button.