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ACCESSIBILITY PERSPECTIVES

 

About The Site

  For those people who are living with disabilities the simplest of tasks, such as going to the store to purchase a loaf of bread, become daunting undertakings. However, with the right planning and preparation the obstacles facing the disabled and their families diminish. Those short trips come as long awaited reprieves for people normally bound in their homes. Recently my family has had to learn how to cope with a family member who now requires the use of a wheelchair. Our learning experiences will probably be all too familiar for those seasoned veterans who have lived with a disability all there lives. How many of you have parked in a rather wide handicapped parking place only to leave the store to find another vehicle parked in your loading zone, so close to your own vehicle that you can no longer pass through the remaining space? How many of you have exited a store to be left stranded on a sidewalk with a high curb because the only available wheelchair ramp has been blocked by a delivery truck? Then there is pushing a wheelchair through a snow and ice packed parking lot which is an almost impossible feat to accomplish without an incident. The point that I am attempting to make is that disabled persons view the world through a unique perspective predominately focusing on how they can fully interact in the world about them. At the very least, how to successfully accomplish those daily tasks that most people take for granted as nothing more than the daily inconveniences of life. That unique perspective is the inspiration for this Web Site.

  While about town on a Sunday afternoon, my family wanted to have dinner inside a local restaurant as opposed to ordering from a fast food drive through window. It was not long before the inevitable question was brought up, "Which restaurants in town are the most handicapped accessible?" That question stumped everyone and I thought that it would have been helpful to research on the Internet the handicapped accessibility of various restaurants by reading the comments shared by other individuals of their prior experiences. What I had in mind was something very similar to when a person leaves a feedback rating for a product they purchase from a web retailer that assists other shoppers in making the decisions on whether or not to purchase an item. That is the intent of this Web Site, except instead of product information being made available, it will hold the comments and opinions from people on the accessibility of local stores, restaurants, city offices, churches, schools, museums, and apartments. Such information may also be useful to retailers to learn how handicapped patrons view their business. Perhaps from such comments business owners could improve the accessibility of their stores and increase the range of people they now serve by meeting more fully the special needs of disabled patrons. It is the purpose of this Web Site to collect such information provided by individuals whom are willing to share their unique perspectives and share it with the interested.

Thank you.

 

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