Introducing BluePath: Know Before You Go
Until restaurant reviews include comments on accessibility, potential customers with disabilities may only guess whether they can get into the restaurant and enjoy the food. The same is true for other retail establishments, hotels, and businesses, especially when one is traveling and in unfamiliar territory. At the same time, business owners may incorrectly assume their building is completely accessible, when relatively minor changes might vastly improve the ease with which customers with disabilities could use it. A new resource by Northwest ADA Center, called BluePath, should help both business owners and customers get together.
This new program, BluePath, is a City Search or Yelp type website featuring an online, searchable directory of restaurants, hotels and other businesses that are disability-friendly. The aim of BluePath is to provide detailed information about the accessible features of a business location so a customer can be informed about types of access prior to arriving at the business. Potential customers can consult BluePath so they know before they go that the business is accessible and aware of disability issues.
BluePath is growing in the Pacific Northwest with an initial focus on the regions surrounding Seattle, WA; Eugene, OR; and Anchorage, AK. With a national network of ADA Information Centers, BluePath has the potential support to become a nationwide resource.
A Resource for Businesses
The service was designed to recognize businesses that get on the “BluePath” by becoming aware and proactive about access and customer service for people with mobility or sensory challenges. Sara Woody is Northwest ADA Center’s BluePath Coordinator.
“Even though businesses have been required since 1990 to be accessible,” Woody explains, “there are a lot of ways that we can inform business about things they don’t know that they don’t know.” Easily used self-assessment checklists are often the businesses’ first step in determining how they do at accessibility. The checklists have been customized as needed for each state to reflect their differences. BluePath staff can visit the business to discuss possible barriers and offer ideas for improvements.
For example, in Eugene, Oregon, BluePath assessed several St. Vincent de Paul’s locations and made a number of recommendations. As a result, St. Vincent widened aisles at its stores, lowered mirrors to allow people using wheelchairs to see better, made sure all restroom doors had handles, and changed other door handles from knobs to levers.
“The visit and the changes were a call to attention about the number of people who are disabled,” said Charley Harvey, associate executive director at St. Vincent de Paul. “In general, people don’t think there are that many people out there with disabilities, but there are.”
The Eugene Hilton qualified easily for BluePath membership because it already met the minimum standards of accessibility. Interestingly, while completing the assessment with BluePath staff from ADA Info Oregon, Hilton General Manager Jody Hall found that the Hilton’s exterior doors were too heavy and learned how he could take accessibility to the next level.
“They came in and walked the place top to bottom,” Hall said. “I wasn’t that knowledgeable. They explained why things were built the way they were to be accessible. The experience was very educational.”
During this start up period, BluePath is trying to assist businesses with their surveys. Otherwise, a business can go to the BluePath website and do a self-assessment of the various elements of their facility, including parking, entrance, interior movement and restrooms, and see whether there might be any issues or barriers. Once the business sends it in, BluePath reviews the checklist and provides the business with free technical assistance and recommendations on the easiest and most cost effective way to address any access issues.
There is a link on the BluePath website to a video that helps people envision exactly what makes a building accessible. “I for one had never seen someone transfer from a wheelchair to a toilet.” Woody laughs, and asks, “Have you? But watching a demonstration of that really helped me understand why the grab bars are where they are, why they have to be so long and why there needs to be a certain amount of space between the toilet and the wall; even where the toilet paper dispenser is placed!”
When a business earns membership, they get a spot in the website directory and a membership decal for their door or window, allowing ALL customers to see that the business is committed to providing a welcoming, user-friendly experience.
A Resource for People with Disabilities
BluePath allows customers, called “PathFinders,” to rate the accessible features of a business and to write reviews about their experience. Businesses then have the opportunity to respond to comments, allowing a new kind of focused discussion to take place between businesses and customers with disabilities surrounding access.
This type of communication brings a level of community and partnership to businesses and their customers – and as Woody explains, the BluePath discussion allows for a more positive conversation then either may have experienced in the past.
Ultimately, BluePath is about providing information to people with disabilities so they can expand their world and their possibilities. It’s about encouraging businesses to fulfill the aim of the ADA regarding equal access. Even if a business starts with baby steps, at least they’ve stepped on the BluePath!
Help Build a BluePath of Accessibility
To help BluePath grow its directory, you can register as a PathFinder and nominate a business for membership. If you are a business, register online at www.blue-path.com for more information on how to earn membership – it’s easy and free! And, of course, you can become a fan of BluePath or follow BluePath on Twitter.