We were in Paris last week. We rented an apartment in the same building where we stayed three years ago. Unfortunately, the years have taken a toll on my knees. As a result, moving around the city – and even in and out of the building – has been painful.
One of the original issues with Paris hosting the 2024 Paralympic Games was access. Many of the Métro stations do not have escalators or elevators, and many venues aren’t accessible to wheelchair users. On Île St. Louis, where we’re staying, most restaurants and shops have one or two steep steps by which to enter. Perhaps a few Métro stops have been retrofitted, but very few that we’ve traveled through. Finding ramps is an even bigger challenge. As a result, folks who use wheelchairs or walkers may be shut out of most establishments.
I understand that some of the reluctance to upgrade for access is due to the historic value of the buildings. In addition, cost is a major consideration. However, mobility-impaired people need access to work and recreation. Upgrades are long overdue.
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One of the things web site accessibility advocates stress is that it’s not just for someone else, but also for your own future. If we manage to live long enough, we’ll all have some difficulty that various accessibility modifications would make easier. I don’t think the US is perfect by any means, and the ADA hasn’t meant that every place and web site in the US is accessible to everyone, no matter their disability, but I do think the situation here is better than it would have been without the ADA.