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Entrepreneurs Help Companies
Find Human Angle Of Disabilities Act
By Donna Gordon Blankinship
The Americans With Disabilities Act is about people, not laws.
That's the
message of Puget Sound entrepreneurs trying to help other businesses
see the ADA
as a new way to embrace diversity.
These entrepreneurs say the federal regulations also offer an
opportunity to
welcome more consumers into the marketplace. With more than
43 million people
with disabilities in this country, that's a big new market to
explore.
The ADA, which was signed into law in July 1990, takes effect
in stages
over five years. Each segment opens more doors for people with
disabilities. Most
businesses have until July 26, 1995 to eliminate architectural
barriers and make all
programs, activities and services accessible to people with
disabilities. Some
businesses and public accommodations such as restaurants and
hotels are already
required to have made the changes.
Susan Duncan says why wait until the last minute. A business,
such as a
restaurant, that is open to all patrons can only benefit from
accessibility.
Duncan is principal consultant and founder of ADAptations, a
Bellevue
company that specializes in what she calls "universal design"
— building
environments that meet the accessibility needs of all people.
The company helps
businesses and government agencies comply with the ADA by working
with them
to redesign their facilities.
Duncan, a registered nurse, says she got involved in accessible
design when
she realized that many of her patients were unable to return
to their homes after an
accident or illness. She went back to school to be trained as
a designer and began
her work making hospitals universally accessible. Her current
clients range from
Easter Seals Society of Washington to Nordstrom, Acacia Funeral
Home and
the Bellevue Parks Department, which is installing a warm water
pool for people
with disabilities.
Many architects and designers are working with companies to
make their
facilities accessible, but Duncan says they often forget one
important thing — the
human element.
She tells a story of an agency that was remodeling and adding
some
accessibility features. They chose a beautiful new front desk
to greet all visitors. It
was low enough for people in wheelchairs to approach, but the
overhang was not
wide enough and there was no room at the bottom for a wheelchair
foot rest.
Duncan pointed out a number of other deficiencies in the architectural
plan and
helped the agency make changes before they spent a lot of money
on a facility that
only appeared to be accessible.
She says accessibility doesn't have to be expensive. Special
door hinges,
which cost up to $50 a piece, often can allow wheelchair passage
for significantly
less money than recutting a door.
To company officers who say they don't have any employees or
customers
with disabilities so why should they make their office accessible,
Duncan has a
pointed response.
"I say the only different between you and me and a person
with a disability
is one second," which is the time it takes a car accident
or a stroke to change your
life, she said.
At the beginning of their working relationship, Duncan often
asks company
officers if she can bring in a wheel chair and have them ride
around in it to gain
a new perspective of their office. She said that kind of demonstration
can have a
profound impact.
"If I do nothing else but bring awareness to people, that
is my gift in this
field," Duncan added.
Awareness and understanding is also the goal of Lee Bussard,
who leads
diversity seminars and co-stars on a video about the ADA. Bussard
of The Pacific
Institute shares the billing with Steve Winterbauer of the law
firm Foster Pepper &
Shefelman for a video training program called "Understanding
the Americans With
Disabilities Act: Employing Disabled Persons."
The video has been out about a year and more than 400 packages
including a
video and 10 workbooks have been sold for $89.95. About half
of Bussard's time at
the The Pacific Institute involves ADA or diversity training,
but it is only a small
percentage of the total work done by the entire motivational
seminar company.
Bussard said the institute's understanding of psychology and
behavior helps
companies learn how to deal with the ADA from a human perspective.
"I see the
ADA as part of our diversity," Bussard said. His job is
to encourage companies to
embrace this diversity.
The next step is to empower people with disabilities, which
is the newest
project on The Pacific Institute agenda. A new workshop called
"Investment in
Independence" is being promoted to vocational rehabilitation
centers around the
country.
Bussard said government agencies and corporations are getting
educated
about hiring people with disabilities, but the people with these
new job
opportunities need some more encouragement to get out there
and take them.
"Unless you have a work force that has enough self esteem
and self image to
get out there, I don't think the ADA means a lot," he said.
Because he has cerebral palsy, Bussard said he feels his work
— especially
this most recent project — is part of his mission in life.
"Some people who are
disabled don't like the word inspiration. I like it. A lot of
times we don't know the
time or moment that we inspire somebody else but we all do to
some extent," he
said.
Another man with a mission is Mike Collins of Sound Access,
an
accessibility consulting and training company. Collins has been
in business for
about two years and worked with government agencies and lobbied
in favor of the
ADA for about three years before that. He got involved with
the ADA when he
become disabled after 23 years of railroad work. Collins said
the ADA is opening
new avenues for people with and without disabilities.
"It's really an exciting time. We are living in an era
when people are learning
some lessons that should have been learned a long time ago.
When we finally
achieve that so called ADA compliance, we're just going to live
in a better place,"
Collins said.
He helps companies understand the new law and comply with the
regulations in the most economical way possible.
The first step is a survey of existing facilities, followed
by a report with
explanations, steps for implementation and a list of resources
to help them through
the process. His clients have ranged from Seattle University
to Nordstrom, Great
Western Bank and the Kingdome.
"Over the long term, it's going to take people who know
the law and really
want to comply with it to make a difference. It doesn't help
to pay for a very
expensive report that isn't understood and no action is taken
on it," Collins said.
He is the sole proprietor of Sound Access and operates with
about 50
subcontractors across the country. About 15 percent of his work
includes training
seminars and the rest of the time Collins focuses on surveys
and follow-ups.
The company does project management and offers a list of resources
— from
designers to sign companies — to help complete the work.
Proper signage is one of the easier requirements of the ADA,
but that hasn't
led to a rush on Puget Sound signage companies, according to
the owner of
Cascade Signs. Sally Fuller says her Seattle company has benefited
slightly from
the new regulations, but not as much as she had expected.
"I think a lot of businesses aren't looking into it. I
think a lot of businesses
are just holding back to see if the government is serious,"
said Fuller, who is co-
owner of Cascade Signs. The company is working on major new
signage for the
Federal Building and has worked on signs for a number of Seattle
hotels and
restaurants, but most of the signs they make with raised letters,
Braille and
pictograms are for new construction.
"About five percent of our business is with ADA compliance.
That's one of
the things that leads me to believe that businesses aren't acting
on this. If people
were taking it seriously, anybody who makes ADA signs would
just be
bombarded," Fuller said.
Cascade Signs will work with any company to create attractive,
yet readable
signs for their business. A variety of materials ranging in
price from plastic to
etched metal are available. Fuller said she thinks the original
fear of the ADA has
diminished because people are finding the new signage requirements
are fairly
simple.
Fuller and the other entrepreneurs working on ADA compliance
all agree
that the most important thing companies should know do is learn
about the ADA
and understand the human side of the equation. |
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