Semi-Finals

Thanks to the tireless efforts of our family, friends, and lots of good people who simply heard our story and felt inspired to do a lot of clicking, my husband and I have made it to the Semi-Finals judging stage of the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association's contest to win a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle.  

Our supporters have put up with a nearly endless litany of polite but entreating reminders all but begging for their daily votes, and never once complained about being sick of us asking for so much help.  They logged in every day, answered puzzling and sometimes tricky questions that helped everyone learn a little something extra about mobility issues, and cast those all-important votes that got us into the second round, where our fates are now in the hands of a panel of review judges.  

A huge thank you to everyone who pointed and clicked us into the top 10%, we are forever grateful for your outpouring of support.  We will update you again when the winners are announced!

Design Disconnects

I ran into another of those charming design flaws, today, that make life for wheelchair users so interesting.  And by interesting, I mean uncomfortable.  This was the ledge I had to navigate to get my chair from the ramp to the sidewalk and back again:

Awesome curbing is awesome! Not.

This is a frequent occurrence, and one which is fairly discomfiting, but honestly not as annoying as that old standard of retail areas everywhere:  brick/cobblestone sidewalks.  Those definitely take the cake, as you may recall I've grumbled about considerably in the past.  These are all just signs that ADA is still an inconvenient afterthought for most people employed in designing new public spaces, to say nothing of properly retrofitting older sites.  Until we start getting the considered, respectful attention we deserve on the engineering level of things, we are going to continue to face sub-standard ramps, walkways, and access points at every turn.