Accessibility

Accessible Pathways

Omni's front door is at street level, with no steps or ramps required to enter. It is a double door - the left side opens to 32". The following areas are wheelchair accessible:

• Entrance Hall (via front door; street level)
• Entrance Hall Bathroom (via Entrance Hall; street level; see note below)
• "zigzag hallway" (via an inside doorway [need measurements] or side doors [need to be unlocked from inside]; street level)
• Counter-Culture Labs (via hallway; street level)
• Sudo Room (via hallway; street level; often cluttered)
• Acta Non Verba office (via hallway; street level)
• trash room (via hallway; street level; often cluttered)
• Ballroom (via wheelchair lift and swinging double doors)
  • please note that this wheelchair lift is NOT user-operated. You will need another person to help you get up and down
• "Ticket Booth" storage room (via 32" door, via ballroom; ballroom level)
• kids room (via narrow door; ballroom level; rubber padded floor)
• small classroom / meeting room (via kids room; ballroom level)

The following areas are only accessible via staircase:

• Basement
• Disco Room
• Front mezzanine, including kitchen, den, GWS/CSC office, and Omni admin office
• Ballroom mezzanine, including bathrooms, book room, Crow's Nest room
• Ballroom stage, including A/V closet
• Ballroom bathrooms
• Sudo Room & Sudo Mesh raised platform area (stage level)

Wheelchair Bathroom

The entrance hall bathroom has been renovated to be wheelchair accessible. The door, toilet, sink and pathways between them have been positioned/widened to ADA standards. There are grab-bars on the rear and left side. The renovation was completed in November 2019.

Event organizers should check this bathroom before events to make sure it is free of clutter and stocked with toilet paper.

OUTSTANDING ISSUES as of January 2021

• Side grab bar is 2" too far away from the toilet, it ideally should be furred out
• Coat hook, mirror and soap dispenser are too high up
• Room needs active ventilation - right now it's only passive via an open air column

Scents

We discourage the use of scents, fragrances, volatile chemicals and common allergens at Omni, but need more data on their present state of use. If you are sensitive to these, please share your experiences with us so we can document them and hopefully fix any problems.

Our primary general purpose cleaner for floors and surfaces is Dr Bronner's Sal Suds (as of April 2017), and we keep a bulk supply in our (unlocked) cleaning closet for event point people, omni's 'invisible labor committee', and event renters to use. As of May 2017, we are also focusing on supplying unscented hand soap and toilet bowl cleaners for bathrooms throughout the building.

Please be aware that Counter Culture Labs, as a science lab, uses a variety of chemicals (notably bleach) that may trigger sensitivity reactions in some. Occasionally, machines may be in use in Sudo Room that may trigger sensitivities, but we are working to improve our ventilation and check-in procedures.

Any suggestions or advice in the matter of making the space accessible for those with chemical sensitivities would be greatly appreciated! You can send an email to commons [at] omnicommons [dot] org or come to a building, commons, or delegates meeting (see the calendar.

Tips for Accessible Events

For members of the Commons Working Group and anybody hosting an event at the Omni, we encourage all to research and work toward making your event as accessible as possible!

• Find folks who can provide childcare - the Kids Room just off the Entrance Hall is a great space for babies, toddlers and other youngins
• Provide detailed transportation info, including parking availability, nearest bus stops, and distance from BART (approx 1/2 mile).
• Ask if participants need ASL or non-English language interpreters, and pay such interpreters in advance if you have the budget.
• We encourage all events to be NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds) to enable all interested in attending to do so regardless of income.
• Let participants know whether the space is wheelchair accessible (see above) and ensure the wheelchair bathroom is cleaned and stocked prior to the event. If your event is not on the ground floor, indicate the number of steps to reach the meeting area.
• Ask participants to not wear fragrances to the event, to accommodate for those with chemical sensitivities.
• Provide a variety of food options if serving food, including vegan, gluten-free, high protein, and sugar-free. List ingredients on signs or legible cards next to each dish.
  • Even better, ask attendees if they have any allergy or dietary restrictions, and accommodate special requests if possible.
• Recruit an "access coordinator" for the duration of your event who can focus on the aforementioned details and be available the day of to troubleshoot and help out with any access needs.
• Discourage the use of flash photography or otherwise overly-stimulating lighting during the event, as they can trigger seizures in some.
• Provide a "quiet room" or "chill space" and let folks know it is available in the event of overstimulation or a simple need to be alone.

Accessibility Resources

• Access Suggestions For a Public Event - Sins Invalid
• 6 Great Moves to Throwing An Accessible Party - Everyday Feminism
• Disability and Access Toolkit - Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
• Lessons For Our Future From the Disability Intersectionality Summit - Autostraddle
• Widening Our Circle: Being an Ally to People with Chronic Illnesses
• Nuts and Bolts of Disability Access
• Some of Us Cannot Wait & See: 5 Thoughts on Undoing Ableism & Isolation In Your Community Spaces - the body is not an apology
• 3 STEPS TO ORGANIZING A FRAGRANCE FREE EVENT
• prefigurative politics and creating radically accessible performance spaces: building the world to come - Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha