10 ms·

By not having the ADA.

• pkaye 7y ago
  They don't have the equivalent of the ADA?
  • Miraste 7y ago
    Sort of. The EU ratified the UN's officiously-titled Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010, but actual disability access comes down to local laws. Only some EU members implement the standards, and they usually apply only to new buildings. In practice, disability access in Europe is terrible: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/traveling-with-a-disability-in-europe/2013/07/25/0dc6ecea-c3f7-11e2-8c3b-0b5e9247e8ca_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/traveling-wi... I'm not disabled, but even my cursory observation noticed how bad it is. There are millions of wide gaps, high curbs, and narrow staircases with no other accessibility options. Last time I visited the British Museum, several of the few lifts they did have were broken with no workaround. And that's one of the more accessible places. Problems with roundabouts barely even make the list.
    • tobylane 7y ago
      UK has decent disability law that I’m sure is comparable to the US’s, where both have exceptions for difficult to adapt buildings. Whether that be the protected and iconic British Museum or the hundred year old Tube stations.
      • Miraste 7y ago
        The problem is that a much, much higher percentage of the UK fits under protected, iconic, or difficult to adapt.
        • vkou 7y ago
          So does a large part of older US infrastructure. Imagine trying to navigate the NYC subways in a wheelchair.
  • rayiner 7y ago
    They have some accessibility laws, especially more recently, but the ADA is an extreme outlier in the western world in terms of how demanding accessibility requirements are.