This Access Ape link takes you to get your free copy of Tony’s e-book, The ADA Explained.

Accessibility and People with Disabilities:

Understanding Beyond ADA Compliance

A True ADA Expert Knows Accessibility Standards Are Only The Beginning 

Do you need help connecting to people with disabilities?

You need an ADA Expert.  Accessibility is part of my life.  Let me help you come to know the many faces of the disability community. My name is Tony Boatright.  A Spinal Cord Injury in 1972 changed my world.  Now I change the world!

Can any business fail to address 20% of the population? 

Accessibility is more important to any business than you realize and more complex. People with disability may not be who you consider your targeted market.  Some of them probably could be your customers.  People with disabilities want access to your goods and services like everyone else. 

Accessibility for your business is only the first obstacle. Too many businesses and too many ADA Experts fail to look beyond ADA compliance.  They fail to connect to the people.  To develop the “Know, like and trust” relationship with the people of the disability community.

Connecting with the disability market is complex because of its diversity.  The disability community is the only minority that anyone can join at any time.  I joined at age 15 from diving into a creek.  Some members have their disability from birth.  The majority of the disability community joined involuntarily due to age, accident or illness.  That is what gives the disability community it’s incredible diversity… and complexity.

Know your customer!  This is the most important rule of sales and marketing.  You must know your customers before you can ask them to trust your business.  They must know and like you before they will trust you.

ADA Compliance is an expense:  Accessibility is an asset!

How do you connect with the many faces of the disability community? 

How do you convert ADA compliance into an asset?

You need a true ADA Expert to solve this problem.

Working with this diverse community requires knowledge and experience.  In addition to having the knowledge and experience, I understand the disability community because I am a member of the community. 

Let’s solve your problem by building relationships that make your accessibility an asset.  

In 1972 using a wheelchair diminished my world; steps, curbs and other obstacles were everywhere.  Three years later I started college and I began to change the world.  My first quarter there I was invited to serve on the 504 evaluation committee.  It was exciting to see all the plans being made.  Then reality struck.  This was a compliance report for the 1973 Rehab Act.  It was filled out, filed and forgotten.

To get to all my classes I needed wheelchair access to buildings without ramps.  Using the tools at hand, the 504 requirements, I began my crusade to make every building on campus wheelchair accessible. 

Self-advocacy developed into expertise.  Passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA, in 1990 became a valuable tool in my efforts to change the world.  Professionally implementing Title III of the ADA for Georgia Power was one of my responsibilities.  Personally I had to broaden my horizon.  I needed to understand the full breath of the disability community.  To understand the different accessibility needs of other people with disabilities.

Becoming an ADA Expert gave me the opportunity to make the world more accessible to all people with disabilities. Stylized Heart with active accessibility symbol in the center.

Join in by showing your business recognizes Accessibility Begins In The Heart!

Find out about the Accessible Heart program on the Access Ape website. Pending???

 

 

ADA Expert Professional Experience:

  • Georgia Power Company:  Headed ADA Title III compliance; Provided ADA Title I expertise during HR restructuring; Coordinated all the Southern Company subsidiaries ADA Title III efforts.
  • State of Georgia:  Consultant for two years evaluating state facilities and providing ADA recommendations.
  • disAbility Link:  Executive Director of the Atlanta Center for Independent Living serving as a resource to the 13 county metropolitan Atlanta area.
  • Disability Resource Center, Gainesville GA and Multiple Choices, Athens GA:  Board member and officer assisting these two CIL’s.
  • Mi Casa:, Co-owner of this agency providing personal assistants to help elderly people and persons with disabilities continue to live in their homes.
  • ADA / Accessibility Consultant:  Providing business friendly ADA compliance instructions, evaluations, training and other assistance.
  • Copywriter:  Preparing disability / accessibility pages, web content, educational, informational and other business documents.

ADA Expert Personal Experience:

  • Founding member:  ADA Exchange, 1992, providing education and information during the ADA implementation period.
  • Public Speaker:  Presenting to schools, colleges, business groups, civic group and other organizations on the ADA, disability rights, disability etiquette and other topics relevant to the disability community.
  • Paralympic Speakers Bureau:  Performing athletic demonstrations and talking to school children in all grades.
  • Board Member / Officer:  The Disability Resource Center CIL, Gainesville, GA, and Multiple Choices CIL, Athens, GA.
  • Community Representative:  Represented the disability community during all five phases of Atlanta’s Piedmont Park renovations.
  • Volunteering:  Serving on multiple state, regional and local committees to present the disability community perspective; Offering accessibility advice to businesses, groups and governmental bodies.
  • Author:  The ADA Explained is an e-book that gives an overview of who and what is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act.   Get your free copy on Access Ape.

    This e-book will also give you:

    • Links to valuable resources for additional information
    • Working tips on how to test accessibility compliance
    • Suggestions for making your own accessibility toolbox