Posted by Scott on August 14, 2008 at 9:26 p.m.

Blogging is important because it gives individuals a voice. Today's Boston Globe has an inspiring example.

Kenny Cieplik, now 33, has been in a wheelchar since suffering a brain aneurism at age 11. This March, he and some friends created a blog: The Traveling Wheelchair.

Cieplik visits all types of establishments - banks, beaches, post offices, libraries, restaurants, and parks - and rates them on wheelchair accessibility, using a scale of zero to five stars. ... The result: an emerging map-by-blog that paints a picture of the region's accessibility - from a wheelchair user's perspective.

His approach is pragmatic:

Every review on TheTravelingWheelchair.com contains recommendations on how the place can improve its rating. For example, based on the recent trip to Old Tyme Photo, Cieplik suggested the shop install small threshold ramps, which can be purchased for under $100.

I hope he inspires lots of imitators! (If anyone knows of similar blogs in other locales, please let us know.)

Read the whole article for details:

Title: A matter of access

Subtitle: Wheelchair user keeps blog to rate places on how accessible they are to the handicapped

Author: Emily Sweeney

Publication: The Boston Globe

Section: News / Local

Length: 1,143 words

Date: August 14, 2008

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Comments

Marshall on August 14, 2008 at 10:52 p.m.

awesome story, i tweeted about it too :)

Liz Henry on August 14, 2008 at 10:53 p.m.

This is great! Accessible can mean many different things and often a business or other public place will claim to be accessible, although they aren't for, say, power chairs.

I have a Flickr group for photos of especially frustrating inaccessible places!

http://flickr.com/groups/inaccessible/

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