A couple of days ago I booked accessible tickets for performance tonight. Having a permanent physical disability I have to plan ahead and book a seat that works to accommodate my needs. Seat K1/K2 does just that and I always pay for these accessible seats.
Let’s first start with the fact that this venue site doesn’t have near enough accessible parking spots for the number of people this place can hold. They have no problem having more than enough designated staff parking for arts centre staff and archives staff close to the entrance. As there was no available accessible parking tonight I had to park all the way down at the university residence where there was only one accessible sport left in the entire area.
After I walked all the way to the entrance, I found out that the automatic push button door doesn’t work (this is suppose to help people with disabilities actually get into the building). Arts centre staff could get to have checked all this stuff out ahead of time … but they don’t!
I go to see an usher to get my tickets scanned and peak my head into the theatre and all the seats are full in accessible seating (even my seats I purchased in advanced) not only that, they had added additional seating so more people were seating in the accessible seating area (pretty much making it not accessible)
The usher seemed panicked and didn’t know what to do, the house manager asked me to wait in the lobby as they figured it out. I explained I wanted to sit in the accessible seats I purchased as those seats work for me.
I was waiting in the lobby and the house manager came up to me along with some random dude who I had no clue who he was. And I was told that they had given out comp tickets and these folks were allowed in the accessible seating area to accommodate them (people that didn’t pay) I was then asked if I could move to the other section where accessible seating was. I said well I didn’t want to, but if that was my only option then I guess so, I then told the house manager that this is not ok.
I get to the other side, and guess what the accessible seating section was full including a volunteer usher who was seating in the accessible seating area (best spot closest to the stairs). Again arts centre staff had allowed comp ticket folks to take up accessible seating and let one of their own volunteers sit in one of the best spots in the accessible seating section. As I stood there I watched the house manager ask people to move, and then asked me where I wanted to sit. This put me in an extremely awkward and uncomfortable situation as now I was being looked at as the one disturbing things. The volunteer usher didn’t even get out of her seat until she was told to by the house manager.
I was finally seated and for the first twenty minutes of the show all I could think about is what a gong show the Yukon arts centre accessible patron experience standards were (there are none) I guarantee there are probably zero hours that employees/ volunteers of the arts centre and board have to do in terms of training in customer service to provide compassionate, accessible services to its patrons.
Lastly I asked the usher if there was program of the show available and she said yeah it’s on a QR code. I said where’s the QR code, she said it’s in the lobby. Ummm 🤨 you think she would offer to get the QR code or have the QR code on a clip board that people with disabilities could scan easily… nope I had to get up and get it myself. She seemed upset the entire time I was there. I felt like I inconvenienced her. God forbid that a person with a physical disability was sitting in her designated usher chair. 😡
So yeah $70 for a good show, but completely ruined by the Yukon arts centre staff and volunteers asking the paying disabled patron to accommodate the non paying fully able bodied audience members, as well as not enough accessible parking, automatic doors, or...
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