THE WHY
infographic courtesy of the CDC website1 in 8 people in the US have a mobility disability which causes serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs.
But, disability is much broader than just this and accessibility is more than just ramps.
Here are 10 things you should know:
1) Compliance to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and International Code Council (ICC) Standards and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is not optional. You can be sued.
2) All business owners, including building owners, landlords, and renters, are all responsible for ensuring ADA and ICC Standards compliance.
3) All businesses, including hotels with standalone cabins or casitas, must comply with ADA, ICC, and WCAG Standards.
4) The disability community notices and is becoming very vocal. #BillionStrong
5) Figuring it out by yourself is a pain.
6) ADA and ICC and WCAG Standards compliance is readily achievable.
7) You can go beyond the minimum and make your space warm, welcoming, and accessible.
8) Doing #7 will get the positive attention of the disability community.
9) Money always follows attention.
10) I want your business to succeed. You are not alone and I can help.
WHY CHOOSE MAKING WAVES FOR GOOD?
Everyone deserves accessibility and usability.
1) The access guaranteed by the Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil right and not a suggestion. Accessibility Standards are law and not subject to your definition.
2) Putting a ramp up to a door does not make the entire property “ADA Accessible”.
3) Compliance to the Standards for Accessible Design and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines mitigates risk, and can keep you from being sued.
4) ADA Usability is the space that overlaps the Accessibility Standards and Universal Design, which is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. Creating ADA Usability in your physical and virtual spaces will show your potential customers that you want them to be there!
I take accessibility personally, and that’s a good thing.
1) I want your business to grow. That will happen by enlarging your customer base.
It will not grow if you are sued for violations to the ADA Standards for Accessible Design or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
It may not grow as fast if the disability community doesn’t find your space welcoming.
2) I am committed to helping your business get and stay compliant with Standards and Codes and to create Usability in your space. This will help your business be more accessible and welcoming to more customers.
3) I will use my superpower for you, which is seeing things that aren’t obvious to someone walking through your space because I have used a power wheelchair for the last 15 years, and I have family members with hearing loss, vision loss, and PTSD.
4) I have invested in the education and certifications that back up my findings, and will provide you with a complete report of infractions and remedies, and ideas for increasing Usability.
WHY IS THIS PLACE TO TAKE MY STAND*?
The first ADA Standards for Accessible Design were published in 1991 and they were updated in 2010. I have been using accessibility features since the mid- 1990’s, as my legs became weaker. I have been politely vocal about the need for improvements and compliance with ADA Standards for Accessible Design, but know that talking to only one person at a time is not making the changes happen fast enough. I also know that before I got my first wheelchair in 2008, I received a lot of pushback from business owners who questioned my need for accommodations. The reality is there are a lot of hidden physical disabilities, and part-time wheelchair users. Mobility disabilities make up one group within the CDC guidelines, and others also need attention, but I am going to focus where my strengths lands.
*Even though I have been using a wheelchair full time since 2008, I still use the same words I always did. I go for a walk, even though now it’s “a roll”, and I choose this issue to “take my stand” on because saying that “this is the hill I will die on” seemed extreme.
Standing on the shoulders of Judy Heumann and hundreds of others in the disability community, I am grateful for their hard work that got us to this place. But there is still a lot of work to be done.
“I’m very tired of being thankful for accessible toilets. If I have to be thankful for an accessible bathroom, when am I ever gonna be equal in the community?” Judy Heumann, in the documentary “Crip Camp”.
I echo the words of Nora Elena Genster, in her guest blog for the Northwest Center for Disability after Ms. Heumann’s passing in March 2023. “I still find myself being ‘thankful’ for accessible toilets. For access. For basic accommodation. There is so much left to do.”