Concrit needed re photo description

[jesse_the_k]

Here's what I have so far...

Photo: Photo shows entry of retail brick building sited at intersection. The corner store sits back from the sidewalk in a five by twelve foot rectangle (knocked out of the very corner). In this alcove, there's a recessed entry door swinging out, handle on right side, next to building. On the right of the door assembly is a two-foot wide vertical window (side light). A three-shelf display (topping out just at handle height) runs diagonally from the edge of the door frame to the outside wall, completely blocking access to anything aligned with the the handle side of the door. A narrow wooden bench extends from the wall's juncture with the shelf to the forward edge of the building. The display and bench combine to require a person to stay precisely behind the door to open it.

Comments

[redbird]

The bike racks caught my eye; are they worth mentioning? (I don't think they're relevant to access, but I'm not sure.)

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks. Great eye, but not relevant. Following other comments, I'm going to crop them out of the picture.

[davidgillon]

"The corner store sits back from the sidewalk in a five by twelve foot rectangle (knocked out of the very corner)."

This sounds like the store is 5x12'. I'd reword it as "The doorway is recessed in a paved 5x12' alcove at the corner of the building with a strip of landscaped gravel planting to the side."

"In this alcove, there's a recessed entry door swinging out, handle on right side, next to building. On the right of the door assembly is a two-foot wide vertical window (side light)."

This isn't clear which wall the door is on, I'd reword as: "The doorway is on the short side of the alcove, furthest from the sidewalk, with the gravel planting to the left, and a 2 feet wide vertical window to the right making up the remainder of that wall. The door is outward opening, with hinges to the left and handle to the right."

I'd change the order in rejigging the rest of it, so I'll just do that as one.
"The long wall of the alcove is brick with a narrow bench set against it at the sidewalk end. A waist-height display unit is set diagonally across the corner between the two walls. The combination of bench and display makes it impossible to open the door from the right, or without stepping backwards or to the left when opening it from directly in front."

Personally I don't think I could open it without ending in the gravel. I always open doors offset to the handle side and then pivot the chair around the door when I've got it half open. With this I'd have to grab the handle left-handed and try to back away right-handed, which will put me in the gravel.

[davidgillon]

And looking at the picture again I notice those paving slabs leading to where the photographer is standing. They aren't very level, and they may be the only approach if you're approaching from the other side of the road (i.e. behind the photographer) and can't cross muddy grass. It's impossible to tell if there is a kerb-cut.

The sidewalk proper appears to be sloping both off to the right and possibly cambered away from the building as well. The slope along the building doesn't look too bad, but it's difficult to judge how steep the camber is and that can be a pain if your chair tends to turn downslope.

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks for both these rewrites, which will prove useful in my final rant.

[sasha_feather]

I don't know what "side light" means and I would cut those words.

[davidgillon]

Literally a window to the side, but I think it's one quite a few people won't know and window will cover it.

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks. IN a previous life I was a civil engineering drafter, so Even More Jargon.

[davidgillon]

Son of a civil engineer, so I was brought up with the jargon ;)

[jesse_the_k]

But with which measurement system? Metric? Imperial? SAE? Whitworth?*

*Yes, I worked as a bike mechanic in the 70s, and rebuilt bottom brackets sized to this antique standard.

[davidgillon]

British, so a bastardized mix of Metric and Imperial that varies with context!

[lauredhel]

Not exactly description-related, but the other thing that I try to do when posting a photo like this: post the wide shot for context (the photo above), then a zoomed crop showing the particular area of concern. Saves hitting plus-plus-plus-plus-plus to see the door area close-up.

[jesse_the_k]

Great idea, thanks!

[azurelunatic]

What is the purpose of the description? That would matter to me when describing it.

Assuming the purpose of the image description is to explain why this entrance is not accessible, I would probably collapse the description of the display shelf and bench into something more like "The approach area is obstructed on the right by some items (a bench and display shelf) narrowing the effective approach space to only the three feet precisely behind the door.

[jesse_the_k]

That rewrite is phenomenal, thank you so much.

I always try to write the description before I decide whether to use an image. But until now that crucial question "What is the purpose?" hasn't been on a sticky in the front of my brain. GREAT advice.

The pic will be part of a BADD rant on reinstalling barriers in barrier-free built environments. I will highlight the existence of the side-reach approach space next to the handle side of the door, but I can include that in the text, not the image description.