After the lockdown ended Pune has opened up fully and people are increasingly visiting popular places like the Atria Shopping Mall for shopping and recreation.
The Atria Shopping Mall was visited and the following was checked:
- The accessibility of the main entrance.
- The availability of ramps at the entrance.
- The accessibility of the aisles in the mall.
- The accessibility of the washroom/toilet if any.
- The accessibility of the parking space.
- The accessibility of the elevators.
The Atria shopping mall is a mid-sized shopping center in the heart of Baner.
It has a smooth entrance from the main Baner Road via a large ramp that merges into the parking area.
This is the view from inside the parking area.
On the far side is the public toilet that I reviewed in Accessible Pune Meetup 32.
The 4-wheeler parking is neatly marked and is accessible though there was no reserved parking for the differently-abled.
A neat large ramp leads to the main shopping area surrounded by hotels, banks, ATMs, elevator lift lobby, and the way to the staircase.
Here’s the view from the inside showing the 2-wheeler parking area and also other entrance along with the ramp.
This is the common area in the Atria shopping mall which has a neat leveled floor with all shops and businesses on the floor facilitating easy movement for a wheelchair.
The ICICI Bank ATM is leveled with the common floor and hence accessible to a wheelchair.
The menu buttons on the ATM however are not marked with Braille symbols which are essential for the visually impaired.
This is the view of the ATM from inside.
The number buttons are marked with raised symbols to aid the blind and the visually impaired.
Also, there is a 3.5 mm audio jack for the operation of the ATM using audio instructions.
Accessible Pune Meetup 34 covers the details of a Voice-enabled ATM.
The elevator lifts are also accessible to a wheelchair-bound person since the elevator lift floor is aligned with the lobby floor.
The buttons to summon the elevator lift are also at the correct height for a wheelchair-bound person to access.
The way to the staircase area is also accessible.
The staircase has handrails to aid those with restricted mobility and also yellow stripes are marked to create a contrast that aids those who are visually impaired.
In the Atria Shopping Mall is another ATM that is accessible for a wheelchair from the common floor.
Also, the ATM is Voice-enabled and accessible to a wheelchair-bound person to operate.
The prominent places that are inaccessible are the menu buttons on the 2nd ATM and the floor buttons in the elevator lift that do not have any Braille symbols to aid the visually impaired.
Here’s the link to the meetup invite.
Conclusion
The Atria Shopping Mall in Pune is fully geared towards embracing the differently-abled and though there were a few discontinuities, helpful people were always available nearby to ease the experience of the differently-abled.
This meetup was conducted as part of the Accessibility for All movement.
BR
Tushar Suradkar
Pune