By Isabelle Tiplady
Project Description
A key component to disability activism involves the tearing down or altering inaccessible environments to make them accessible. When most people think about inaccessible environments, they primarily think of human-constructed environments. That is, we notice hostile architecture such as a lack of ramps or narrow doorways on buildings. However, we fail to notice inaccessibility in naturally occurring environments, such as parks and green spaces. My project forces us to combat this inattention by demonstrating accessibility issues at the University of Michigan’s Nichols Arboretum, referred to as the Arb by students. To do this, I provide photographic evidence of inaccessible locations in the Arb, supplemented with my analysis and experiences collecting these photographs.
Accessibility at the Arb
To begin my photo analysis, I wanted to start with some of the ways the Arb gets accessibility right. First and foremost, the Arb is a great place for people who deal with social anxiety or overstimulation to go to be alone. On most days the Arb is almost completely deserted, and you can position yourself far enough away from other people so that you do not have to interact with them.
The Arb is devoid of people. The photograph includes grass, benches, shrubs, a dirt path, and a sign in the middle of a wooded area.
There are also calming sounds of nature in the Arb, especially on the hiking trails, where you can hear the sounds of birds chirping and rushing water. These sounds are relaxing and provide a healthy coping mechanism for stress.
In terms of physical accessibility, parts of the Arb are wheelchair accessible, and could be experienced by people with various levels of mobility. For example, the Reader Center at the Arb has ramp access.
The Arb Reader Center is a white building with a black roof. There is a ramp walkway with black guardrails leading up to the entrance of the building. In front of the building is an orange cone, a black lamp post, and a green grassy area. Behind the building are trees.
Additionally, some of the dirt paths in the Arb are very physically accessible. They are relatively flat and smooth, so people in wheelchairs or who cannot traverse steep inclines would have no problem accessing these areas of the Arb. Although it is important to note that the dirt paths mean that accessibility is likely to be an issue after a heavy rain. Also there are certain areas where there is loose gravel or stones that could pose accessibility challenges to some visitors.
A flat dirt road pathway in the middle of the Arb. The pathway curves to the right and surrounding the pathway are various green shrubs and trees, forming an enclosed wood area.
Inaccessibility at the Arb
Now that I have outlined the ways in which the Arb promotes accessibility, it is important to outline some areas where further efforts need to be taken. In particular, the Arb fails to meet many physical accessibility requirements, which merits consideration. To begin, the Arb is heavily reliant on stairs to reach certain areas of the park, even when stairs are not required and can even take away from the naturally built environment. These stairs also appear quite dangerous—guardrails are few and far between, and the stairs are frequently strewn with debris, making them hazardous to navigate for all kinds of bodies.
Main staircase at the Arb. The steps are made of wood and dirt and are covered in leaves and rocks. Surrounding the stairs are fallen logs, shrubs and trees, with a forest in the background.
Another staircase at the Arb. The steps are made of wood and dirt and have rocky debris. Surrounding the stairs are green shrubs and there is a forest in the background. To the right of the stairs is a wooden guardrail with a squirrel running across it.
Furthermore, stairs are sometimes the only way a person can access some of the most beautiful and engaging parts of the Arb. To access the river, you must first go down a giant staircase, and then later a smaller staircase if you want to be directly on the waterfront. While the waterfront staircase is typically cleaner and less covered in debris than other trail stairs, it can still become slippery and dangerous on rainy days, which provides another accessibility barrier.
Stone staircase leading the river. Amongst each stone step are clusters of large rocks and grass. At the base of the staircase is a muddy platform with rocks that overlooks the water. To the right side there is a wooden fence in front of shrubs and grass.
The field area of the Arb also has some problematic staircases. To access some of the benches, you have to either walk all the way around the field or traverse grass to get to a staircase that leads up to the benches. This is inefficient and time-consuming, making these benches inaccessible. It would be a simple fix to install non-grass pathways and ramps in these areas.
Two wooden benches in the Arb. Leading up to them is a stone staircase surrounded by rocks, plants, and signs specifying the type of plants. In the foreground there is a large grassy field and in the background is a forest.
We should also be critical of the benches in the Arb in terms of accessibility. Many of the benches in the Arb are very uncomfortable. These benches can be quite narrow and short, and are often made out of materials like wood or stone that are painful to sit on for long periods of time. Other issues include the lack of back support on some benches, which can be difficult for people who experience chronic back pain or other related issues.
A wooden bench in the Arb. This bench is very narrow and short, and has no back support. The bench is in the middle of a clearing with pine needles, sticks, and clumps of grass. Behind the bench is a forest.
A stone circular bench surrounding a large rock. The bench is made of stone with brick as the foundation and is located on a dirt clearing. The bench has a 3 meter gap in the circle to access the seating. Behind the bench is a forest.
Finally, I went to mention one area of accessibility in the Arb that I was disappointed by. When you visit the accessibility tab on the Arb website, the first thing that comes up is an image of a trailchair (a wheelchair/mountain bike hybrid that is designed for navigating trails) and instructions for how to reserve it. Online it says you can call ahead or visit in-person to reserve the trailchair. I wanted to see if I could get access to the trailchair for this photo analysis, but I had no luck. On multiple occasions within working hours I tried to call to inquire about the trailchair and was sent immediately to voicemail. I also tried to inquire in person, but the person I spoke to clearly had no idea what I was talking about. This is a huge problem for accessibility because what the University advertises online as an accessibility measure is not a viable accessibility option. Indeed, anyone who actually needed to use the trailchair would have to jump through a lot of hoops to access it, or it is possible they may not be able to access the trailchair at all.
Conclusion
Overall, the Arb provides a great case study for analyzing the accessibility of outdoor environments. While the Arb does promote access in some ways by having a few physically accessible paths and being a space for relaxation and alone-time, it still has some huge glaring inaccessibility issues. There is an overreliance on stairs, inaccessible benches (both in terms of pathways to the benches and their construction), and the one accessibility tool promoted by the university, the trailchair, is too difficult to reserve.
Now I am in no means arguing for the destruction or clearing out of the natural beauty of the Arb. However, some easy implementations of better pathways that provide an alternative to the stairs and comfortable benches will not be damaging to nature and will give the opportunity for everyone to experience it. Additionally, the University should make its trailchair actually reservable, which involves no structural changes to the Arb at all.
In the end, I will leave you with one lasting image highlighting the lack accessibility at the Arb:
A neon yellow trail marker that says “Caution! Steep Trail Not Wheelchair Accessible” and depicts a wheelchair symbol with a red line crossing it out. The trail marker is positioned on a wooden post with a neon pink flag on it. In the background is a forest and the trail marker is surrounded by shrubs and fallen leaves.
