MinorOak is built on a philosophy of accessibility and mutual respect.
Accessibility to wheelchair users
MinorOak’s ground floor is almost entirely wheelchair accessible. This includes the meeting room, the kitchen, the collaborative work area/front room, and the wheelchair accessible toilet. In short, MinorOak’s events, meetings and collaborative coworking are accessible to wheelchair users.
MinorOak’s loft – the quiet work area upstairs – is not accessible to wheelchair users. It can only be reached by a single staircase. For that reason, we offer coworking members who are wheelchair users or who are unable to use stairs a 20% discount.
Blue badge parking
Cars with a blue badge can park for free on Gedling and Brook Streets, including in the spots right across from MinorOak. You can also park for free for up to four hours in the Arena Car Park on Brook Street, two blocks away. For more details, check the Parking Post on the MinorOak blog.
Accessibility to people with impaired mobility
The vast majority of people with disabilities don’t use a wheelchair. They’ve got mobility that is impaired just a bit or perhaps significantly, but many can hide it pretty effectively. I’m one of those people – not everyone knows, but I’ve got an artificial hip due to a car accident injury. That made me conscious of less obvious mobility issues when I designed MinorOak.
MinorOak has a fully wheelchair accessible bathroom with grab bars and everything at the correct height, but both bathrooms have comfort-height toilets. MinorOak’s staircase is metal and has a sturdy handrail on each side. It’s an easy staircase for people with joint issues; if you need a little help with balance or support, you really can depend on the railings.
Size-related accessibility
As much as possible given my budget, I’ve tried to take people who aren’t at the centre of the height and weight bell curves into consideration when designing the space and buying furniture. Both washrooms are large enough to be comfortable for people of all sizes. I have a variety of laptop and monitor stands available, and the office chairs in the loft are adjustable height.
A culture of acceptance
MinorOak has a culture of acceptance. That means we respect each other’s physical, mental, cultural and emotional differences. As the owner of MinorOak, I try to promote a culture of consideration and openness. Nobody’s always perfect, either in themselves or in the way they relate to others. Nevertheless, we strive to be friendly, creative, helpful, and caring colleagues other self-employed people want to work with.
Diversity is strength, and that includes physical ability, culture, colour, nationality, class, gender, age, size and sexuality.