Seeing things from a wheelchair

In order to develop empathy with another person it is often said that “Before you criticise a man you have to walk a mile in his shoes”. As someone who is currently having to use a wheelchair I’m beginning to understand what it is like for disabled people in this country. I’m beginning to see things very differently.

Let me share some of my experiences so far:

When I was still in hospital in Bristol, one of my outings from the ward was to visit the Costa coffee shop in the hospital atrium. At that stage I needed to be pushed in my chair. On a couple of occasions (though not always) one of the people serving ignored me and spoke to my wife. The chair made me invisible.

Using a disabled toilet in Sainsbury’s supermarket in Chippenham, I found the door (that opened out) was heavy and quite hard to cope with. Inside the lock was an ordinary “Vacant / Engaged” lock. I was able operate this easily but would someone with a problem with their hands?

At a council owned car park in Corsham there were plenty of disabled spaces. But they weren’t much wider than ordinary spaces and there was no space at the side. This contrasted with Parent and Child spaces which appeared wider and had the space at the side.

Although there are dropped kerbs we find that the wheelchair catches on the road surface.

We’ve already worked out that several pubs we enjoy visiting for a meal will be no go areas for a variety of reasons. But we recently visited The White Hart at Ford (just outside Chippenham.) There was level access and all seemed fine until I needed the toilet. There was no disabled access toilet. To have gone to the Gents (even if I could have got in) I would have needed to negotiate a step down into the bar area. What was frustrating was that there was a baby changing room and the restaurant area of the pub (admittedly an old building) was fairly new. Why wasn’t a disabled toilet put in then?

Some people or organisations like employers, shops, local authorities and schools must take positive steps to remove the barriers you face because of your disability. This is to ensure you receive the same services, as far as this is possible, as someone who's not disabled. The Equality Act 2010 calls this the duty to make reasonable adjustments.
Clearly this legislation isn’t being enforced or is being ignored.

I find it heartening that many churches (and I am thinking mainly of Methodist ones) have tried to comply with the legislation. Why don't commercial organisations feel the same?