One Guy's Story:
I was driving around in a small town in Alaska with an attorney who was looking for businesses vulnerable to lawsuits. I helped her by pointing out architectural barriers, even though I knew what cheap and easy fixes they could be. After an afternoon of doing this I hated myself for how I was using my knowledge of the accessibility guidelines: threatening lawsuits in order to motivate businesses to remove simple barriers. This ‘drive by’ style of creating change was born from my own frustration of not being able to access music stores, taverns, delis, convenience stores and the like. I told myself there had to be a better way.
I asked myself, “what if instead, I looked for ways to reward businesses for not having barriers? What if I helped to market them instead? This is a language they would understand!” This was the beginning of BluePath.
BluePath started as a paper checklist and a homemade DVD and has now matured into an interactive website. The directory brings together businesses who want to reward themselves with an under-targeted group of customers: people with disabilities who have $220 billion in discretionary money to spend annually. This thought alone should be quite a stimulus to get more and more businesses on the path to removing architectural barriers and reaching out not only to people with disabilities, but seniors, aging baby boomers and wounded veterans as well.
BluePath is here to assist businesses and to help create a larger, navigable world for people with disabilities. We want BluePath to help facilitate a better dialogue between business owners and customers with disabilities - much differently and more positively than those early days in Alaska!
Don Brandon, BluePath Director
Our Partners:
What is BluePath?
BluePath promotes businesses that welcome people with disabilities as valuable customers.
BluePath provides information for people with disabilities about where to shop, dine or go for fun. Through the directory of business profiles, customers with disabilities can find detailed descriptions of accessible features for locations in their community or travel destination, making it easier for them to travel through their world. Reviews and ratings from previous customers provide further information about their experience a
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