When a King’s student with mobility issues injured himself and needed a wheelchair, he was surprised to learn there wasn’t one available on campus. This alumnus, who asked to remain anonymous due to the personal nature of his disability, says he couldn’t go to class for weeks.

The university has since acquired a wheelchair. But for the alumnus, who has cerebral palsy, the incident paints a picture of what he sees as a broader issue: accessibility at King’s can feel reactive, rather than proactive.

As King’s moves into the second phase of its accessibility plan, first implemented in 2022, questions remain about what accessibility looks like in practice on a century-old campus, and who bears the burden of navigating it.

“Everything should be available for everyone”

According to Michelle Mahoney, the King’s accessibility officer, accessibility at King’s needs to go beyond ramps and elevators. 

“To me,” she said, “accessibility would be that everything is available for everyone all the time … meaning that there are no barriers to education, barriers to residence, barriers to food services, barriers to classrooms.”

Mahoney, who began the role in 2023, said her position was created in response to growing awareness of accessibility needs on campus. She works closely with students navigating the accommodations process through Dalhousie’s Student Accessibility Centre. 

“I can’t grant an accommodation for you,” she said. “But what I can do is I can help you navigate that process.” 

That can mean sitting with a student as they fill out forms, calling the accessibility centre on their behalf or accompanying them to appointments. 

Still, she acknowledged that the process itself can be overwhelming. 

“Students that have a learning disability or physical disability, any kind of disability, invisible [or] visible, you come to university with that barrier already,” Mahoney said. “So adding accommodations and having to advocate for yourself is just another barrier.”

Students must renew their accommodations each term. Mahoney understands why the policy exists, given the volume of students served by Dalhousie’s centre, but she also recognizes how it can feel. 

“I have to renew my [accessible parking] permit every five years,” she said. “Guess what? I’m still disabled.”

For the anonymous alumnus, daily life at King’s was manageable, but not without its obstacles.

“It’s a small campus which is good to get around, but verticality is always an issue with accessibility,” he said. 

King’s has attempted to address this with some success. The campus has elevators in the NAB, A&A, Alex Hall and the library, as well as automated entrances and accessible washrooms. 

However, the rest of the residences are a challenge for those with mobility issues, due to the lack of routes that don’t involve stairs. In terms of classrooms, Alumni Hall lacks railings, and Mahoney acknowledged that while accessible routes exist, they are not always convenient.

“There are accessible routes to get to them,” she said of certain buildings. “It’s just going to take you a lot longer.”

A phased approach

The King’s Accessibility Plan, updated April 1, 2025, outlines a three-phase strategy running through 2031. The document lists renovations and policy changes completed since 2022, including the Alex Hall accessibility renovation, lever-style door handles and upgrades to the gymnasium.

Mahoney said many improvements are incremental, but meaningful.

“Changing doorknobs to lever style, that can make such a huge impact,” she said, recalling a recent experience where she was unable to open a round doorknob in a public washroom. “You might not think of it, but the next time you go to a door, you’re going to notice.”

She also highlighted the importance of small, practical changes, like securing floor mats, removing high thresholds and ensuring accessible parking policies are applied thoughtfully. At the same time, she acknowledged financial constraints and the realities of working within historic infrastructure.

“You can’t make everything accessible in a day,” she said. “And with such old infrastructure, you’ll never make everything accessible.”

Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act mandates that the province be fully accessible by 2030. 

But Mahoney is skeptical about that timeline.

“I’d hate to be the guy that has the clipboard on Jan, 1, 2030,” she said.

Reactive or responsive?

The aforementioned wheelchair incident illustrates the gap between ongoing improvements and anticipatory accessibility planning.

“When that incident happened,” Mahoney said, referring to the alumnus’ injury, “that inspired me to get a wheelchair. So we have a wheelchair now on campus.”

For her, it was an example of responsiveness in a small community. “What I really love about working here is that it’s a smaller community. It’s easier to make something work for somebody.”

But for the alumnus, the fact that the solution came after weeks of missed classes raises questions about anticipation.

“I don’t know what [King’s] agenda is when it comes to accessibility, but I feel like there was a little bit of box ticking.” said the alumnus. “Like with that incident with the wheelchair, it didn’t get solved until after the issue happened.”

Both perspectives reflect the complexity of accessibility work at King’s: meaningful effort within institutional limits and lived experiences that don’t always align with policy timelines.

As the university enters the next phase of its accessibility plan, the challenge will be ensuring that accessibility is not only technically in place, but fully integrated into campus life.

As Mahoney put it, accessibility is about making sure “everything is available for everyone all the time.” For students navigating the campus from day to day, how close King’s comes to that goal remains an ongoing conversation.