O.K....so you are moving to a new city and you have a lot on your mind about where to live, job concerns, and if you have a mobility disability.... how to get around. I have enjoyed living in many parts of the United States. I have called areas in Michigan, West Virginia, the D.C. metro area, and Atlanta home. And, I've visited on business and as a tourist many other cities. So, I know the challenges of finding your way in a new city when you have a disability.

It takes research and a "can do" attitude to make certain cities work for you in your accessibility needs. I have found help and information in contacting Centers for Independent Living (CILs), local rehabilitation hospitals, and word of mouth from other disabled folks. But, the information was always partial, incomplete, and needing to be assembled from disparate sources.

So, this got me to thinking. Why can't there be a publication or an application for a mobile device that can help in this endeavor?

I have posted several blogs on this very subject when researching apps for the iPhone and other smart phones. There are apps with subway maps that show H-cap access and there are apps that can show you where the closest accessible restroom is located.

But there are no applications that detail a city's overall accessibility. Several cities across the country have organizations that print out accessible guides detailing H-cap routes for tourism but I believe a better job can be done.

I would like to put out a challenge to city tourism boards, CILs, and rehab facilities to look into creating an application for a mobile handheld. Downloadable applications for mobile devices can be designed with a disabled person in mind. I would like to see an application that would report the accessibility of restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums, etc. It could be a graded scale (1 to 10) or a simple "yes or no" scale of measurement.

Having this information on a mobile handheld would make things very useful when exploring the town (not to mention time saving). I will present this idea to several groups here in Atlanta but there is no reason for others not to act in their respective cities as well.

--Pete "Pedro" Collman