Well…she didn’t exactly ’say’ BluePath – but what Governor Gregoire did do was sign Senate Bill 5902:  Promoting Accessible Communities for Persons with Disabilities.  And the law calls for the development of “a searchable listing of local public accommodations.”

Christine!  Look no further!  Washington already has BluePath! 

We are very excited about this and hope to be involved.   Either way, this speaks loudly to the business commuity. 

PLUS – this the 20th anniversary of the signing of the ADA – so it’s very timely and there is going to be a lot of public awareness about disability issues.  We really hope this encourages business owners to hop on the BluePath and take advantage of all the BENEFITS we can offer!  For businesses:

Technical Assistance – we can point out barriers you didn’t know you had and recommend how to fix the issue or offer an alternative. 

Marketing – we are using social media and our social network to connect you to the community of shoppers, diners and travelers with disabilities.

The Halo Affect – this is a real marketing term for when you doing something good for a niche market, the rest of your larger market thinks you’re awesome and brings you more business.

The benefits to customers with disabilities we hope are clear.  But if you want to chime in, please do!  We really need help from folks to help populate the directory.  If this website can serve you, a friend or family member, please register as a PATHFINDER and suggest a business!

I just sent out our first “Congratulations! You have been accepted for BluePath membership!” letter.  I hope they get this letter before they see this blog.  Our first BluePath member is the Q Cafe.   It’s a music venue with an open mic on Tuesday nights and concerts with local musicians.  They serve up coffee and tea.  It’s a nice, wide open space. 

Just like any place, it’s not 100% accessible because they have an ‘old school’ ramp with a handrail on only the left side.  But, the cafe itself is very usable – we just need to tell all the musicians not to fall to the right on their way up to the stage! 

The second newest BluePath member is Sound Mind and Body Gym.  They were so awesome because they were the very first ones to say “yeah, we’ll take your survey!  We want to be user-friendly!”  After going through the checklist, we found that their gym it totally accessible!  But the company that did their parking lot didn’t put in enough accessible parking spaces and the ramp is a just a little too steep – although it’s manageable.  The problem here is that it somehow passed city code.  This is the kind of thing that makes accessibility confusing and frustrating for everyone.  And how we hope to help!

Lots of places are just sooo close in terms of offering accessible features that are just a little off.  No wonder BluePath is one of the few organizations attempting to do this!  But why not try to help business be as usable as possible, describe what they’ve got, and then put it out there as a resource?  And meanwhile, trying to get more customers to go to that business because they are making an effort to serve customers with disabilities? 

We think it’s a good idea.  www.blue-path.com

BluePath is a new website!     www.blue-path.com

It’s a way for businesses to market themselves to people with disabilities after they have made a commitment to being user-friendly and as accessible as possible.

It’s a way for people with disabilities to find user-friendly businesses in their community or travel destinations and to know before they go:  will I find an accessible path?

We’ve just entered the online world – so please start talking to us!  We are starting our efforts in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle/Portland/Eugene) and want to know what kind of paths you find when you go out.

We’ll talk to you too and let you know about businesses that are making the effort to welcome people with disabilities as valuable customers.

Hey businesses, got blue?? … get on the BluePath!