To access the main entrance, you must go up a steep hill. The doors are heavy and the walkway is narrow. The ground floor entrances however, are more accessible and have assistance buttons, but are less convenient. Once you are inside the building, there are elevators/lifts to get to each floor. The hallways are wide enough for standard size wheel chairs, but there is no longer a front desk staff if you had immediate questions. They also don't have braille on menus and the staff is not always friendly, so finding someone to assist you if you needed it might be difficult. It is often loud and crowded, so navigating through the building is sometimes hard. Also, the parking lot is rather far from the building.

Disability Awareness:   Not physically accessible, Inflexible service, Impatient, No Accessible Parking

I wasn't with a a person with disabilities so I can only comment on the actual facility, versus the custormer service. The doors on the ground floor are large and the seating area is quite spacious, so a person with a wheelchair would be able to get by. The checkout section in the C-store is low so there could be eye contact and ease of giving money. However, the Jamba Juice/Sushi section doesn't seem like it's very wheelchair-friendly; there are really tall glasses separating the employees from the customers and there isn't much space to get by during rush hour. Overall, the C-store and hot food section seem like they would be satisfactory, but the Jamba/Sushi section could probably use some upgrading.

Disability Awareness:   Has employees with disabilities, Physically accessible, Accessible Parking

In terms of physical disabilities, Norris is not that welcoming. If you need ramps and/or an elevator, you must enter through the south side of the ground floor. If you want to get to the front desk, there is a single-wheelchair lift you can use which is inconvenient, you cannot enter the main auditorium with a wheelchair, and it's hard to navigate the seating area in the ground floor. However, the Sodexo staff is respectful of people with disabilities (many employees have disabilities). Additionally, the Starbucks and US Bank counters are low enough to accommodate customers in wheelchairs.

Disability Awareness:   Helpful with assistance or accommodation, Has employees with disabilities

Northwestern University's Norris Center is very accepting of people of disabilities. They have people working there that have a disability, and treat them very well based on interactions that I've seen between workers.

However, one drawback of the facility is the fact that it would be very hard for a person in a wheel chair to move around the facility. The front entrance includes a revolving door, which wheel chairs couldn't get through, or sets of 2 doors that would be hard to get in. There is also a lot of stairs to get from level to level, and to get the the elevators, you have to go up or down a set of stairs from the main entrance!

Disability Awareness:   Welcoming, Friendly, Respectful, Has employees with disabilities

While doing some work in the Norris ground lounge, I noticed a group of co-workers sitting together having dinner and conversing. Not only was it great to see that Norris had hired people with disabilities, but it seemed like a very welcoming environment for them, as I noticed people with and without disabilities interacting.

Disability Awareness:   Welcoming, Talked directly to the person/people with disability, Friendly, Respectful, Helpful with assistance or accommodation, Has employees with disabilities