by Jim Jirous, Facilities Director
In March 2022, as a part of our Ownership & Community Engagement Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work, and our partnership with Step Up: Equity Matters, we were introduced to Downtown Madison, Inc’s Beyond Compliance Taskforce. This gave us the opportunity to learn about the Access to Independence Accessibility Services Program. This program provides consultation and technical assistance to help Madison businesses ensure accessibility and inclusiveness for people with disabilities. This introduction coincided with our interest in determining how to make our stores more accessible.
Jason Beloungy is the Executive Director of Access to Independence and Chair of the Beyond Compliance Taskforce. He started at Access to Independence in 2010 in a different leadership role, and in 2019 became the Executive Director. Prior, Jason was a Policy Analyst for the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) in Washington, D.C. and was involved in disability policy, focusing on areas such as healthcare and long-term care.
Through discussions with Jason, it was determined that Willy Street Co-op should consider how our store layout and facilities affect accessibility in our stores and what could be done to improve accessibility. With input from other Willy Street Co-op directors and managers, we defined a scope of work that covered both interior and exterior spaces. The main areas that were evaluated included: counters and facilities heights, safety markings and signage, ease of navigation everywhere in the stores, restroom ADA compliance, exterior approaches to the stores, curbs and cutouts in the parking lots, uneven surfaces, and accessible parking signage.
Below you will find Jason’s thoughts on our work together, his team’s findings and a little bit of information about his organization.
“In September of last year, Access to Independence partnered with Willy Street Co-op to conduct an accessibility evaluation of all three stores. Two members of the Accessibility Services team went on-site to all three locations and reviewed aspects such as parking, paths of travel, restrooms, and functional elements such as service counters and shelving. Following the on-site evaluation, a report was provided to Willy Street Co-op that outlined any identified barriers at the three locations, and recommendations to address those barriers. Some of the barriers were related to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and some recommendations were best practices to ensure better access and inclusion for customers with disabilities.”
About Access to Independence
Access to Independence, Inc. is a non-profit, disability-led and operated Independent Living Center (ILC) that provides resources, services, and advocacy to people of all ages with all types of disabilities in Dane, Columbia, Green, and Dodge counties in south-central Wisconsin. We help people develop the tools and skills to make informed choices for themselves and work to increase the choices available to people with disabilities. Access to Independence began in 1978, and is celebrating 45 years this year.
Services Provided for People with Disabilities
Our services include: information and referral; skills training; peer support; individual advocacy; transition from institutions to the community, as well as assistance to those at risk of entering institutions; transition of youth to post-secondary life; youth services including classes and adaptive gaming; assistive technology demonstrations, loans, acquisition and training; and home modification evaluation. Access to Independence also engages in community-impact activities such as systemic advocacy, education, and collaboration.
Accessibility Consultation and Technical Assistance
Access to Independence works with businesses, organizations, and local governments to assist with improving accessibility and inclusion of people with disabilities. Our goal is to ensure an accessibility strategy that is right for each client, and equip our clients with the knowledge and support needed to implement and continue this important work. These services include evaluations and technical support for: websites and digital access; festivals and events, whether internal or in the community; existing buildings and spaces, as well as designs for new buildings and spaces; and training for management and employees to ensure an inclusive and accessible company culture and customer experience.
Accessibility Consultation for Willy Street Co-op
Access to Independence applauds Willy Street Co-op for not only seeking support to identify barriers to accessibility and inclusion, but to actively use the recommendations to enact changes. One of the Accessibility Services evaluators from Access to Independence noted: “What stood out during the evaluation across all three stores was that there were no barriers preventing access to the fundamental functions of a grocery store. Anyone can get into the stores, buy an item, and get back out. What also stood out was how accessible the restrooms were, overall. All the restrooms were spacious enough to allow access for anyone, and the majority had automatic openers, which greatly increases access and is above and beyond compliance. The ADA is dense, complicated, and intended to be a vaguely worded document with many opportunities for different interpretation. It is reasonable to expect that not everyone involved in running a business is going to be fully knowledgeable about ADA standards, and sometimes all it takes is one person to unknowingly, or unintentionally, create a barrier to access.”
This is why it is important for businesses to seek support, and use that knowledge, as Willy Street Co-op has done.
Upcoming Events
Access to Independence is excited to host its sixth annual Artists Beyond Boundaries event, this October 12. Artists Beyond Boundaries is an art event and fundraiser hosted by Access to Independence, and is designed to celebrate the talents of artists with disabilities living across the state of Wisconsin. The event begins at 5:30pm at the Goodman Community Center, and will provide an opportunity to explore all of the art submitted for the event. A program announcing this year’s finalists will follow, and hors d'oeuvres and desserts will be served. A Call for Art begins June 1st, through August 31. To submit art, or purchase tickets, go to: artistsbeyondboundaries.weebly.com.
What Has the Co-op Done with These Findings?
The Accessibility Services team members from Access to Independence toured all three Willy Street Co-op stores in mid-October 2022 and found several items of non-compliance and some items that were beyond compliance issues that they recommended we consider changing.
Some of the non-compliance issues were:
In the parking lots, some of the signs at the accessible parking stalls were installed below the ADA required height of 56”. These have been raised to the correct height.
In the restrooms the sharps disposal receptacles were installed above the ADA required height. These were lowered to 48” at Willy East and Willy West and were reinstalled to the correct height at Willy North during the restroom renovation project there.
Also in the restrooms, the coat hooks were installed above the ADA required height. We added coat hooks at Willy East and West between 15” and 48” off the floor and installed 2 sets of hooks in each restroom at Willy North during the renovation project, one above 48” and one at or below 48”.
The restroom automatic openers, on the doors equipped with them, were found to return to the closed position outside of the ADA allowable time requirements. The automatic openers at all three stores were adjusted to function as required. The three new restroom doors at Willy North that do not have an automatic opener were confirmed to open within the ADA allowable force requirements after installation during the renovation project.
It is not clear exactly why the items that were found to be out of compliance were installed incorrectly to begin with but it is possible that an architect, project contractors, or Willy Street staff weren’t aware of all the ADA requirements or weren’t clear on the requirement specifics at the time these things were originally installed.
Some of the beyond compliance recommendations from the Accessibility Services team were:
In the parking lot at East, the wording on one of the signs for an accessible parking stall was recommended to be changed to use the currently accepted “people with disabilities” or “disabled people” rather than “differently-abled” that was used 10 years ago. This has been corrected.
It was found at all three stores that the shelved items that are higher than 48” above the ground aren’t accessible to shoppers who can’t reach that high. It was recommended that we merchandise the shelved item vertically instead of horizontally so that they would be in reach for all shoppers. This is something we will be looking into and it is something that will require a lot of thought and troubleshooting to execute. (NOTE: If you are having problems reaching anything in our stores, please ask one of our staff for assistance!)
The openings between the checkout counters at West and East were found to be not wide enough to be accessible for staff who are wheelchair users. The team recommended that we make sure at least one checkout counter has an opening to the workspace that is at least 32" wide. This is something we will be working on in the coming months at both sites.
Final Thoughts
Overall, working with Jason and the Access to Independence team has been enlightening and they have been great with helping us to correct compliance issues, to keep moving beyond compliance and to work towards making our stores more accessible to all. For more information on Access to Independence: www.accesstoind.org.