Have you ever been excluded or denied access due to high top tables in bars or dining establishments? It’s time to put an end to this inaccessible table trend and #DropTheHighTops! Here’s how YOU can join our mission to promote the use of standard height tables and show support for universal design and access.
Read the Post That Started It All
High Top Table Trend: How restaurants and bars exclude post-ADA
Read article on how Inclusive Design can stop the segregation of people with disabilities
Share Your Photos
Submit a photo to us showing off your run-in with a high top table. Let us know where you were and how it directly affected you. We will add it to our High Top Hall of Shame.
Send the photo using the submission form below, post it to our Facebook page or click to attach your picture in a Tweet to us. We’ll be highlighting your photos and stories on social media.
Sign Your Name on the Campaign
You can also show your support by joining our Causes campaign. We will be sharing it with leaders across the design, restaurant, catering, and hospitality industries. Please also share the link with any other groups or organizations that you would like to get on board.
Send a Letter to Local Restaurants/Bars With High Top Tables
Here is a sample letter you can modify and use to spread the word in your community about #DropTheHighTops and help make restaurants and bars more accessible.
Submit Resources and Ideas
PUSHLiving is calling on you to help #DropTheHighTops! Using this form, you can submit links for our resources section or the names of lawyers or advocates who can assist in pursuing universal design. If you have comments, questions, or suggestions on how we can improve this campaign, send those our way too!
Resources
- 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design
- Ensure that Tables and Dining Surface meet all of the Accessibility Requirements
- Americans with Disabilities Act Discrimination Complaint Form
- The Goals of Universal Design by Edward Steinfeld
PUSHLiving Position Statement
PUSHLiving.com believes that the current design trend for using high top tables in public venues such as bars, restaurants and other places causes the exclusion of people with disabilities, as well as the elderly. It also excludes those with other physical limitations due to height or weight, or a those with any condition that makes this type of seating option painful or dangerous. We urge all who own or operate these properties to DROP THE HIGH TOPS and find universally designed options that will welcome and encourage all guests, while allowing them to feel comfortable and properly accommodated.
High top tables are contradictory to what the Americans with Disabilities Act had intended – equal access. They should be eliminated from public venues altogether. Restricting high tops to a specified percentage of tables still causes difficulties and uncomfortable scenarios for guests and staff when alternative seating is required. We encourage and endorse the adoption of universal design principles such that all tables and spaces can be used by as wide a range of people as possible.
We want this campaign to be positive and bring about change. We want to give people the opportunity to understand the issue and what they can do to help address it. We also feel that, if necessary, legal action is justified to bring an end to instances where individuals with disabilities are excluded from participating in social activities and dining due to the inconsiderate use of high tops.