Hot take: automatic doors at my local grocery store in Denver are actually harder to use than manual ones for some people

I watched a person in a wheelchair have to back up and try three times to trigger the sensor while I just walked right through, so is responsive tech really accessible if it fails for the people who need it most?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_terry4d ago

Yeah the "trigger the sensor" part is real. I had a friend in a chair who used to carry a small piece of reflective tape just to wave at those things because some sensors are calibrated for standing body height not rolling height. What got me was watching her have to back up and try again while people just walked through like nothing. If you can, call the store manager directly and ask if they can adjust the sensor sensitivity or add a push button. Sometimes they have no idea it's an issue until someone points it out. In my experience, most grocery stores actually want to fix this stuff once they see it happen.

kai_stone994d ago

Yeah it's wild how many things are designed for just that one perfect scenario and everything else is an afterthought. Even crossing the street, those push buttons for crosswalks are sometimes too high for someone in a chair to reach without struggling. @the_terry hit it right though, most places just don't know until somebody finally bothers to tell them.