The Crimson White Print Edition - January 18, 2024

2A
news
Students say UA accessibility is insufficient
Rachel Seale
Staff Writer
Although the University
of Alabama leads
the way in programs like
Adapted Athletics, which
allow students who use
wheelchairs the opportunity
to play sports, some students
with disabilities say campus
and off-campus areas like
the Strip still present them
with accessibility challenges.
Campus accessibility
Maddie Daniell, a
freshman majoring in
human development, has a
neurological and a genetic
disorder that requires her
to use a power wheelchair.
Even though the crosswalk
buttons technically meet
Americans with Disabilities
Act regulations, Daniell said
she can’t push the button
at crosswalks because they
are too high for her to reach
from her wheelchair.
“You just have to sit and
wait for an able-bodied
person to push the button
for you,” Daniell said.
Toni Nelson, a junior on
the wheelchair tennis team
majoring in criminal justice,
also said she tends to wait
for someone else to push
the crosswalk buttons due
to difficulties reaching them.
She said certain wheelchairs
are not made to go over
the grassy areas where
crosswalk poles are located
and users may get stuck.
Daniell said the biggest
problem on campus is the
cracked sidewalks, which
are painful to go over.
Additionally, she said many
sidewalks and ramps on
campus are inaccessible
because they are too steep
for her power chair to go
over and could cause it
to tip.
“Able-bodied students can
take a path that I just can’t,”
Daniell said.
Daniell said she can’t
ride buses on campus since
her wheelchair doesn’t
have tie-downs, or straps
that connect the chair to a
vehicle so the chair
doesn’t move.
“They’ll let you ride the
bus, but it’s not safe and
you're gonna slide around,”
Daniell said. “It’s a danger to
yourself and other people.”
Both Nelson and Daniell
said they have had issues
with elevators not working.
“There’s one in ten
Hoor that tends to always
be broken,” Nelson said.
“Thankfully, the teacher I
had let it go when I couldn’t
go to class.”
Daniell said she also
experienced an issue with
an elevator in the Math and
Science Education Building
that took 45 minutes to get
fixed, leaving her stuck on
the second floor of
the building.
“I had to take a test right
after that, which I was
almost late for,” Daniell said.
“It took a lot of calls and the
Office of Disability handled
The crosswalk buttons at the northeast corner of University Boulevard by the Strip’s Whataburger may not be ADA compliant, Lee Busby said. CW / Caroline Simmons
it, but it’s something that
shouldn’t have happened.”
Although campus
buildings have automated
doors that meet ADA
requirements, Nelson said
sometimes the ones at
Farrah Hall are locked.
There is an ADA
assistance phone number
listed on these doors;
however, Nelson said she
just waits for someone to let
her inside.
Daniell and Nelson
have both received
accommodations from the
Office of Disability Services.
Although Daniell has a
specific ODS employee she
can call or text, she said that
she has still encountered
issues such as push buttons
that don’t always work
when trying to open doors
and able-bodied students
parking in handicap
parking spaces.
ODS is the University’s
program that helps meet
with and plan reasonable
accommodations for
students with disabilities.
Vanessa Goepel, executive
director of ODS, wrote in
an email that students
with disabilities that are
impacting their academics
can contact the office
by completing an online
application, providing
documentation of their
disability and meeting
with an accommodation
specialist to have an
individualized assessment.
Goepel said ODS provides
students with disabilities
alternative formats for
testing, communication
access and classroom access.
“ODS regularly evaluates
our approach to academic
accommodations in order to
ensure educational access
while prioritizing student
autonomy,” Goepel wrote.
“The national trends are
towards use of adaptive and
assistive technologies to
provide accommodation and
supporting all learning styles
through Universal Design for
Learning (UDL).”
Although students have
concerns about general
accessibility issues, the
University leads the way in
accessible athletics facilities.
Margaret Stran, associate
director of Adapted
Athletics, wrote in an email
that the University was
the first college to open a
facility designed for adapted
athletics in January 2018.
She said the University also
opened the first collegiate
wheelchair tennis facility in
October 2021.
Able-bodied students
can take a path that I
just can’t.
Maddie Daniell
Freshman at UA
“UA is the leader in
adapted sports in the
United States and is the
only university that has
two facilities for [its]
athletes, both of which were
designed for students with
ambulatory disabilities,”
Stran said.
Stran said all campus
facilities are wheelchair
accessible and meet the
Rehabilitation Act and
the ADA.
Alex House, UA assistant
director of communications,
wrote in an email that
the University strives to
act in compliance with
local, federal and state
requirements when it comes
to campus accessibility for
all students.
“Students or employees
who may encounter
accessibility challenges are
encouraged to report any
issues using resources listed
on the Office of Disability
Services website, by calling
the ADA Hotline at 205-348-
5882 or sending an email to
uafacilities@ua.edu,”
House wrote.
Both Nelson and Daniell
said they didn’t know
where or to whom to file
complaints about problems
they have faced.
House also said the
University works with the
city of Tuscaloosa to ensure
areas off campus are also
accessible, including
the Strip.
The Strip
Daniell said there is a
lack of sidewalk space on
the Strip, which causes her
to put herself and others in
danger by riding in the road.
Nelson said she uses a
walker or wheelchair due to
cerebral palsy. She said the
sidewalks on the Strip are
small, so she also tends to
ride in the street.
Nelson said she’s had
a friend walk beside her
and watch for cars while
she used the road on the
Strip near the Union on
Frank apartments since the
sidewalks are not big enough
for a wheelchair or walker.
Mallory Hatchett, a 2023
UA graduate who received
ODS accommodations as a
student, said she struggled
to get around campus after
she developed postural
orthostatic tachycardia
syndrome, or POTS, in
2020, which causes her to
experience dizziness and
makes it harder to walk
long distances.
Hatchett said she is
against the way parking
functions on the Strip. Publix
only allows its customers to
park in its parking lot, which
includes a few of the only
handicap parking spaces
available on the Strip.
“We all understand like
we’re constantly forgotten
about, but I think it’s really
aggravating when Alabama
likes to say that the campus
and the Strip and everything
is accessible and it’s not,”
Hatchett said.
Lee Busby, a member of
the Tuscaloosa City Council,
reevaluated the areas
students called into question
on the Strip along University
Boulevard, Union on Frank
apartments and Here
Tuscaloosa apartments.
Busby wrote in an email
that the City has given
$400,000-$500,000 to help
fund UA projects within the
last 18 months, including
those designed to create
accessibility improvements.
According to the
U.S. Department of
Transportation, crosswalk
push buttons should be
placed no higher than 3.5
feet above the sidewalk, a
minimum of 2.5 feet from
the curb and 5 feet from
the crosswalk.
Busby found that the
crosswalk button on
the northeast corner of
University Boulevard by the
Strip’s Whataburger is 4
inches higher than the other
crosswalk buttons at this
intersection due to a cross
slope in the sidewalk.
“I am asking that that
issue be reassessed for ADA
compliance and common
sense functionality,”
Busby wrote.
Moving forward
Hatchett said she wants
the University to take
more action to listen to the
suggestions of students
with disabilities on how to
increase accessibility.
“I would like them to
host meetings with people
that are disabled ... and ask
them specifically, like, ‘What
do you think we could do
to improve our campus?’”
Hatchett said.
Stran is a member of the
ADA Deferred Maintenance
Committee and works with
the University on its
master plan.
“Work on the master plan
also includes UA students
with ambulatory disabilities
assessing and providing
feedback on accessibility
across campus via an
interactive app,” Stran said
in her email.
Interim Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
Engagement Editor
Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion Chairperson
Chief Copy Editor
Assistant Copy Editors
Opinions Editor
News Editor
Carson Lott
editor@thecrimsonwhite.com
EDITORIAL STAFF
Carson Lott
managingeditor@thecrimsonwhite.com
Ronni Rowan
engagement@thecrimsonwhite.com
Jeffrey Kelly
dei@thecrimsonwhite.com
Jack Maurer
Sarah Clifton
Cassie Montgomery
Chance Phillips
letters@thecrimsonwhite.com
Ethan Henry
newsdesk@thecrimsonwhite.com
Assistant News Editors
Culture Editor
Assistant Culture Editor
Sports Editor
Assistant Sports Editor
Photo Editor
Assistant Photo Editor
Chief Page Editor
Chief Graphics Editor
Multimedia Editor
Maven Navarro
Jacob Ritondo
Savannah Ichikawa
culture@thecrimsonwhite.com
Gabriella Puccio-Johnson
Abby McCreary
sports@thecrimsonwhite.com
Bella Martina
Natalie Teat
Riley Thompson
Natalie Marburger
Shelby West
Augustus Barnette
The Crims is the community newspaper of The
University of Alabama. The Crimson White is an
editorially free newspaper produced by students.
The University of Alabama cannot influence
editorial decisions and editorial opinions are those
of the editorial board and do not represent the
official opinions of the University. Advertising
offices of The Crimson White are in room 1014,
Student Media Building, 414 Campus Drive East.
The advertising mailing address is Box 870170,
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.
The Crimson White is printed monthly, August
through April by The University of Alabama, Student
Media, Box 870170, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. Call 205-
348-7257.
All material contained herein, except advertising
or where indicated otherwise, is Copyright © 2024
by The Crimson White and protected under the
“Work Made for Hire” and “Periodical Publication”
categories of the U.S. copyright laws. Material
herein may not be reprinted without the expressed,
written permission of The Crimson White.
The Crimson White, Copyright © 2024