Inaccessible is more than inconvenient
“an inconvenient process for a non-disabled person can become a huge time and energy drain for a disabled one.”
Cat Mitchell
Cat Mitchell is a Senior Researcher at the University of Derby. She does research on the barriers disabled people face in publishing, and her article in the Bookseller, “We Need to Talk About Disability” was a massive wake up call for the industry.
About Our Blog Series
Welcome to the fifth in our monthly series of blogs looking at the support that would enable people with accessibility needs to use everyday services with as little disruption to their lives as others do (or at least, as little disruption as possible).
Each entry in this series has been written by someone with lived experience of a particular support need.
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We invite any service provider, from retailers to delivery firms; from financial services to utilities and everything in between, to consider how their service meets the needs presented.
We welcome comments, which will be moderated in accordance with our code of conduct. We especially invite insights from people with similar needs, or different needs relating to similar situations. And from organisations who are able to meet these needs (sharing how they do so) or who would like to consider how they might do so.
If you would be interested in contributing to this blog, please email info@whatweneed.support. We pay £150 for a post (or can make alternative arrangements such as donations on your behalf if you are not able to receive payment because of the effect on your benefits).
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Finally, if you would like to get involved in WhatWeNeed.Support’s events, as someone who has support needs, or someone who works for an organization that puts support needs into place, we would love to hear from you through our email info@whatweneed.support
With that, here is our fifth post, from Cat
Not All Inboxes Are Equal
Let me tell you a long, boring story.
It starts with my phone.
Every time I unlock it, I’m greeted by a sea of menacing red dots; new emails, new WhatsApp messages, new social media notifications. And occasionally, a new voicemail.
The dots haunt me; a never-ending to-do-list, one notification always immediately replaced by another. I feel like a cat, distracted by a laser pointer, always reaching out for one dot of light for it just to appear elsewhere.
Because I’m overwhelmed by the dots, on this particular occasion, it takes me a week to listen to the new voicemail on my phone. And by then it’s too late; a specialist medical appointment I’ve been offered – after six months of waiting for it – has probably gone. I’m already likely being discharged back to my GP for not responding quickly enough. It sends me into a panic and I feel my throat constricting.
I wonder if it’s too late to stop this. Phoning people fills me with dread, but the only contact details they’ve given is a number.
I call it. A woman answers on the third ring, but they tell me I’ve come through to the general line; I need the specific department.
It’s very loud in the background; it’s difficult to hear what she’s saying, and I have to ask her to repeat herself. My head feels full, and I worry I’m saying the wrong thing. The woman is clearly getting irritated with me, but eventually she gives me a new number and I note it down.
I hang up, and now I’m filled with even more anxiety. I run through a script in my head of what I need to say over and over again, fearful of getting the next conversation wrong too.
When I feel calmer, I call the new number. This one takes me straight to an automated message, which informs that this number is now out of service. It lists a new number and then cuts me off.
Already, I’m feeling exhausted.
I take a breath. This time, when I call the new number, the phone just endlessly rings. I hang up and try again five minutes later. No-one answers again. I keep doing this on-and-off for an hour, with no luck.
I decide to just try my GP.
I phone and wait. I have to listen to a long, automated message before I can select the option to talk to a real receptionist. When I get to that point, a robotic voice tells me the line is too busy and I get cut off.
I call again. I listen to the automated message again. I get cut off again.
Eventually when I get through, I’m told I’m 50th in the queue. I stay on the line for 20 minutes and remain in the same position. There’s an option for them to keep my place in the queue and for them to call me back instead, so I don’t have to wait on hold. I select this, and then return to work.
I anxiously wait to hear from them all day, trying to remember what I need to say in case someone calls and I forget it all. I’m distracted and I can’t fully focus on anything.
They return my call five hours later.
By then, it’s too late for any doctors to talk to me.
To get an appointment I have to call at 8am the next day, though the receptionist advises I come in person and queue at 7.30 instead, because you usually can’t get through on the phones.
Well, I think, at least I don’t have to make another phone call.
The next day, I roll out of bed at 7. Early starts throw out my day because I have insomnia. It’s winter and drizzling unenthusiastically. I don’t drive due to my leg pain so I walk the 15 minutes to my GP surgery wrapped tight in layers. Already at 7.30, the queue is 10-people long. Even though you can see a few women moving around inside, we don’t get invited in.
I wait for forty minutes in the cold. There is nowhere to sit. The shivering makes my already aching muscles tense, and my spine struggles with all the standing.
Eventually I get inside and I get my appointment for later in the day. A 15 minute walk back home. A few hours of waiting, distracted. A 15 minute walk back to the surgery. And then finally, I get to talk to a person who can help.
This story didn’t have to be quite so long, or quite so boring.
Really, it shouldn’t have been a story at all.
So, how could this have been handled better, particularly for someone with access needs like me?
- An option for messages to be sent via text messages or email rather than voicemail; I can quickly glance at my messages, but voicemails take more headspace, especially in a period of overstimulation or executive dysfunction
- For the same reason, longer deadlines for responding to requests
- Clear, up-to-date contact details being provided
- Making sure there are options to have conversations in quiet places, or minimising background noise in phone calls
- Staff not getting frustrated if you need something explained again or more clearly
- Not relying on phone calls as the only option for communication
- If waiting in a queue is required, offering the option of a seat indoors
Sure, part of the problem is that the NHS is overstretched and underfunded. And of course, not all processes will always suit everyone.
But these kinds of issues happen with lots of institutions and businesses. And an inconvenient process for a non-disabled person can become a huge time and energy drain for a disabled one.
We’d prefer not to have to tell these boring stories, let alone live them.
Support needs covered in this piece
- Please send messages via SMS
- please send messages via email
- Please do not leave voicemail messages
- Please give me longer deadlines for responding to requests
- When you correspond with me, lease provide up-to-date contact information for the communication method I need to use
- When we meet, I need a quiet space to meet in
- Please minimise background noise when making phone calls to me
- I may need things explained again or more clearly. Please do not get frustrated
- If waiting in a queue is required, please offer me a seat indoors
What We Need 