KFC/Taco Bell, 1865 W Hunting Park Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19140
1. Big windows – lots of light for vision impaired
2. Thick bullet proof glass between customers and cashiers – may be difficult for individuals with hearing impairment to order
3. Soda machine – relatively high off the ground, may be difficult for individuals who use wheelchairs to pour their drinks
4. Counter – good height, accessible for people in wheelchairs
5. Railings used to form line to order – difficult to navigate with a wheelchair
6. Hallway to bathrooms, which include:
a. Railing next to toilet
b. Sink is sufficient height
c. Mirror and hand dryer too high
7. Entranceway, doors are heavy and not accessible
8. Good space between tables
9. Very narrow space between tables
10. Very narrow space between tables
11. Curb-cut between parking lot and sidewalk leading to entrance
12. Ramped sidewalk instead of steps
13. Accessible parking spot, but it is the furthest spot from the entrance
14. No wheelchair accessible tables in restaurant
Narrative
The location I chose to analyze for this assignment was the KFC and Taco Bell establishment across the street from Simon Gratz High School, which is where I work. The address is 1865 West Hunting Park Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19140. Although this is not the community in which I live, it is the community in which I work and in which many of my students live, and I have been there several times this summer for lunch. In making the floor plan of the KFC I found some aspects of the layout that are accessible for people with disabilities, and others that might make it difficult for customers with disabilities to access the restaurant.
As for aspects of the restaurant that do make it accessible for persons with disabilities, I will start on the outside. There is a small parking lot, and there is one accessible spot in it (#13 on the floor plan). Next to that spot is an open spot that no one can park in and leads up to a curb cut in the sidewalk (#11). By not allowing cars to park here, it gives easy access for a person parking in the accessible parking spot to get up to the sidewalk without having to worry about another car being in the way. Also on the outside, even though the restaurant is set at a slightly higher elevation from street level, the sidewalk leading up to the main entrance has a slight incline, like a ramp (#12). There could have been steps leading up to the door, but instead it has this ramp, which makes getting to the entrance of the restaurant more accessible for people in wheelchairs, or anybody who may have trouble with stairs. Therefore, this sidewalk does seem to be in compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Barden v. Sacramento, in which they required that all sidewalks be accessible (Disability Rights Advocates). Overall, I would say that the outside of the KFC is acceptably accessible. The only thing I can think of as a negative is that the one accessible parking spot happens to be the spot furthest from the entrance, however it may have been designed this way to allow it to be closer to the curb cut to get onto the sidewalk.
Inside of the KFC, one thing I noticed was that there are several big windows on three of the walls, and these windows let in a lot of natural light (#1). This abundance of light may make the restaurant more accessible for individuals with vision impairments. Also inside, the main counter where customers order and pick up their food is relatively low (#4), making it accessible for people in wheelchairs or people who might not be able to see over a higher counter. Although there were issues with accessibility with some aspects of the bathroom of the KFC (#6), one thing that was good about it was that it had a railing next to the toilet which people could use to assist themselves in sitting down and getting up from it. Also, the sink is at a low enough height that it is accessible to all customers. Finally, the last positive I found was with the spacing between some of the tables in the dining area (#8). This area would be very easy to navigate for people using wheelchairs.
Just as there are elements of the restaurant that make it accessible for people with various disabilities, I also found several that made less accessible for people with certain disabilities, and in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, “Title III mandates that facilities of public accommodation—both existing and new—be accessible to individuals with disabilities,” (Hulett, 2009, p. 65). I already mentioned that the only negative that I could find on the outside of the building was the location of the accessible parking spot, however this might have been due to its proximity to the curb cut in the sidewalk leading up to the main entrance. However, once at the entranceway, customers may run into their first issues with accessibility. The entranceway contains two sets of doors (#7), both of which are pretty heavy. They are pull-to-enter/push-to-exit doors, and they might be pretty difficult to open and go through for some people. By allowing these doors to open automatically, either by electric eye or by a manual button an individual could push, the KFC could make its doors more accessible for people to enter and exit.
Inside of the restaurant, there are also several issues with accessibility. The first of these is that, due to the neighborhood that the KFC is located in, there is a thick layer of bullet proof glass between the costumers and the cashiers (#2). While this bullet proof glass helps ensure the safety of the employees of KFC, it may make it difficult for individuals with hearing impairments to understand what the person on the other side is saying. Customers with hearing impairments might have trouble hearing the cashiers. Also, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1943 provides that businesses provide adequate accommodations for employees with disabilities (Hulett, 2009, p. 54), and at this KFC employees with hearing impairments could have difficulty hearing the customers due to the bullet proof glass. Due to the nature of the neighborhood that the KFC is, I am not saying they should remove the bullet proof glass to make the ordering process more accessible. However, they could install a two-way microphone system that would allow both customers and employees to hear each other. This is something that I did not notice while in the restaurant, and if they had it they would be able to solve the accessibility issue while maintaining the safety of its employees.
Another issue inside of the restaurant is the height of the soda machine (#3), which sits on the end of the counter where customers order. While the counter was a good height to allow all people to see over it, the soda machine on top of it is a bit high, and may make it difficult for people in wheelchairs to reach up and pour their drinks. If this soda machine was stand alone instead of positioned on the counter, it could be positioned at a lower height and be more accessible for all customers to fill their cups.
What I thought was one of the more glaring accessibility issues in the KFC was railing positioned in front of the counter (#5). The railings are there to facilitate the forming of a line for customers to stand in to order, however they are pretty narrow and difficult for customers in wheelchairs to navigate. In fact, while I was in there for lunch one day, there did happen to be a patron in there who used a wheelchair. Lucky, he had family members with him, so he did not have to navigate through the narrow railings because they ordered for him. However, I imagine that it may have been difficult for him had he been on his own. If the restaurant removed the railings and instead used signs to inform customers where to form the line, it could make this part of the restaurant more accessible.
I mentioned earlier that the accessible elements of KFC’s bathroom (#6) were the railing next to the toilet and the height of the sink. However, the bathroom also contained a mirror that was positioned on the wall high enough above the sink that a person in a wheelchair might not be able to see themselves in it. Also, the automatic hand dryer was high on the wall as well, potentially making it difficult to reach and dry one’s hands. To make the bathroom more accessible, KFC would simply need to lower the heights of both the mirror and the sink. Finally, although one section of the dining area had sufficient space between tables for all people to navigate, two other aisles (#9 & #10) are very narrow and could potentially make it very difficult for people in wheelchairs to navigate. As KFC wants to maximize the amount of seating for its customers, reducing the number of tables to make this area of the floor more accessible would not be in their best interest. However, since the area indicated by #8 on the floor plan does offer sufficient open space, it may be acceptable that the other aisles in the dining area are narrower.
One final issue I had with the accessibility of the KFC was that none of the tables are wheelchair accessible (#14). Since the chairs themselves are built into the floor, one is not able to slide them away to make room for a person in a wheelchair. Therefore, an individual using a wheelchair would most likely have to sit at the end of the table, making for a more awkward eating situation. This seating arrangement may be in violation of the ruling in Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America v. The University of Michigan (http://www.ada.gov/umichstadium.htm), it which it was decided that the University of Michigan’s football stadium did not provide enough seating accessible for people with disabilities, and they were required to install more. In KFC’s case, if they took the fixed chairs out of the floor and replaced them with regular chairs, a person would be able to slide it away to sit at the table.
Works Cited
Disability Rights Advocates. (2000-2010). Barden v. Sacramento. Retrieved from http://www.dralegal.org/cases/public_entities/barden_v_sacramento.php.
Hulett, K.E. (2009). Legal aspects of special education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America v. The University of Michigan. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.ada.gov/umichstadium.htm.
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