2025 Hands Around the Capitol

 2025 Hands Around the Capitol

https://idahoaccessproject.org/hands-around-the-capital

Please join us for Hands Around the Capitol 2025, kicking off a three-month celebration of the 35th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 25, 2025 from 10am to 4pm in Cecil Andrus Park in Boise, Idaho. This is a statewide in-person, educational and awareness event that will be connected by live streaming platforms to coordinate with national ADA celebrations and awareness events across our nation.

Want to get involved? We're still looking for sponsors and vendors to support and participate in this celebratory event. Support here

Big News!

NaviLens: We're featuring this groundbreaking navigational and interpretive technology to help us celebrate the Ada, and to support inclusive business, travel, and tourism while highlighting the needs of folks with sensory disabilities, neurodiversity, or alternate language needs.

NaviLens is an adaptive technology that helps people of all abilities and communication preferences to navigate spaces and access interpretive information. Learn more through this YouTube overview.

What sets NaviLens apart from standard QR codes? (from the NaviLens FAQ Page:

"The NaviLens Accessible QR Code can be read from much further away, within an angle of up to 160 degrees and on the move. This allows its use without the need to focus or frame the code on the mobile screen. The user does not need to know exactly where the codes are and can therefore be used by blind or vision impaired people. In addition, the user experience is much more satisfactory as it is much faster and easier to use.

Blind people or anyone with low vision in general struggle to use a QR code because they do not know where it is placed and so have great difficulty focusing and framing it. The NaviLens Accessible QR Code does not need to be focused or framed and can therefore be used by everyone."

Download the Navilens app for either iPhone Apple iOS or Android Google Play

2023 Rocky Mountain Land-Use Institute

Ramp Up Idaho and Idaho Access Project members shared updates on inclusive planning and design efforts with the audience of RMLUI's Western Spaces, Western Places conference at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver Campus. We were joined by colleagues from the City of Boise and Vitruvian Planning. 

Session description below:

Asking Directions: Experts with Disabilities Lead the Way

The Idaho Access Project’s 2020 RMLUI session, “Count Us In,” made an argument for more inclusive planning and design. We’ll present case studies from several subsequent local and statewide initiatives that illustrate the value of this collaboration for all partners. First, we’ll focus on our supportive work with Vitruvian Planning on three projects:

1. Residential neighborhood access audit;
2. Repurposing a downtown restaurant and business district from a through street to pedestrian and patio use; and
3. ADA Transition Plan for the City of McCall, ID to evaluate transportation corridors, and key buildings and districts.

The overall theme of the session is 'active engagement’ with community partners to overcome cultural or institutional barriers that can stand in the way of meaningful partnerships and mutual trust and understanding.

Moderator:

• Erik Kingston, Housing Resources Coordinator, Idaho Housing and Finance Administration

Speakers:

• Sean Keithly, Director of Economic Development, Boise
• Don Kostelec, Principal, Vitruvian Planning, Boise
• Carol Baron, Idaho Access Project, Boise
• Jeremy Maxand, Executive Director, Living Independence Network Corporation (LINC)

Idaho Access Project: Making a Difference

Opening slides from four IAP presentations, clockwise from top left.
One Idaho For All: Best Practices in Local ADA Transition Planning; Count Us In! Inclusive Planning and Design for Community Health, Mobility and Safety; Access Means Business: Policies for Compliance, Community and Commerce; and Don't Miss the Boat! Expanding accessible travel experiences for all.

It's been a busy year for the Idaho Access Project! The IAP is a volunteer-driven, 501c3 nonprofit initiative to promote greater access and inclusion in all aspects of Idaho life. Founded by Dianna Willis, Jeremy Maxand, and Dana Gover in 2018, they were joined by Erik Kingston in 2020. Kingston and Gover were also original founders of Ramp Up Idaho, and the groups share some key goals:

• Increase safety, independence, mobility and access for all Idahoans
• Focus on building positive relationships and productive collaboration
• Promote awareness of the universal benefits of access to all stakeholders
• Show that #accessmeansbusiness and #accessmeansinclusion

In the past 12 months, IAP has been making change in a number of areas.

Community Access and Safety. IAP subcontracted with Vitruvian Planning on two municipal projects: Boise's 8th Street conversion to a patio and pedestrian zone between Bannock and Main, and the City of McCall's ADA Transition Plan. This fee-for-service income covers out-of-pocket and other hard costs for travel and outreach. Board members and volunteers also serve on Boise's Cross-Disability Task Force. IAP identified a safety concern in the bike ramps adjacent to roundabouts related to the lack of tactile surfaces to help pedestrians who are blind avoid walking into traffic; the local Highway District (ACHD) now plans to address the hazard.

Visitability Standards for Single-Family Housing. IAP members have long worked to raise awareness of the importance of residential development that reflects the basic features of Visitability. This includes one zero-step entrance; 32" clear doors and passageways on the main floor; and a main floor bathroom usable by someone in in a wheelchair. IAP's work highlights the many benefits of inclusive residential design and construction for individuals, taxpayers and community integrity. IAP members produced a Visitability podcast at the LINC Idaho studio, and two video interviews on the difference between planning ahead for access and modifying an existing inaccessible home (aka, 'Planning Behind"): Visitability by Design: Creating Community and Overcoming Design, Safety, and Financial Barriers

Conferences. IAP members presented at conferences for the Association of Idaho Cities the APA Idaho Chapter (both in Boise), and a keynote for the Idaho Conference on Recreation and Tourism (ICORT) in Twin Falls. They were also invited speakers for the November Boise Rotary Club, and addressed Idaho's Regional Economic Development Professionals December meeting.

Recreation. IAP Board members and volunteers worked successfully with the City of Boise and Ridge to Rivers to identify and address barriers to lower foothills trails. IAP members, family and friends planned and completed the Access Idaho Adventure tour of North Idaho to explore accessible and inclusive travel and recreation opportunities. They created a video of the trip and presented their findings to the Idaho Tourism group at Idaho Commerce, and the ICORT conference mentioned above. IAP facilitates the statewide ADA Recreation Committee via zoom, to connect with peers interested in adaptive outdoor recreation and travel.

Civic Life and Volunteerism. IAP was invited to partner for a second year with the WCA Boise on an accessible route and other features for their annual SueB 5F 10K fundraiser. The result was an Urban 5K Route that took into account safety and access for participants navigating the route with mobility- or sensory-related disabilities. This included text and audio descriptions of the route and multiple historic or cultural features along the way. IAP fielded the largest social team for the Urban 5K to support WCA and raise awareness of healthy relationships and domestic violence. Board President Dianna Willis also worked extensively with the Boise Art Museum on their efforts to create a more inclusive experience for visitors of all abilities, and IAP has had preliminary conversations with the cool folks at Treefort Fest to explore options to increase access and inclusion in programming and facilities. Stay tuned.

Fundraising. IAP participated in its first 2022 Avenues for Hope campaign running from December 12 to the 31st. results exceeded a goal of $5,000 thanks to community support and matching funds from campaign sponsors. This is in addition to receiving support from Idaho Tourism and the Disability Action Center NW to offset costs of the North Idaho event and video production. With no paid staff, all funds support costs of travel, outreach and education materials, and any accommodations needed for members and volunteers to engage in their work.

Tom McTevia Award. IAP was honored to receive the Tom McTevia Award in September for promoting accessible recreation and tourism. The award is given in memory of the former Navy Seabee and law enforcement officer who was paralyzed in an ATV accident and devoted his time to helping others living disability access the outdoors.

Press

Shoshone News-Press Making Idaho More Accessible

Idaho Capital Sun / Idaho Press Tribune New nonprofit seeks to build relationships at all levels of government for an accessible Idaho

Opening Doors to Everyone

 The ADA provides excellent guidance and fact sheets on design and access requirements. Here's a short excerpt from their Fact Sheet on Doors.

Access Means Business for Idaho Cities!

Members of the Idaho Access Project and Ramp Up Idaho presented "Access Means Business: Policies for Compliance, Community and Commerce" at the June 23rd Association of Idaho Cities Conference in Boise. 

We had a great turnout and audience questions about legal requirements, inclusive community engagement, local ADA transition planning, and the social and economic implications of accessibility and inclusion for retail,

   commercial and recreation/tourism businesses.

Access means business in employment, housing and community mobility. Ramp Up Idaho Co-founders and IAP Board Members Erik Kingston, PCED and Dana Gover, MPA, ADAC, were joined by fellow IAP Board Member and LINCIdaho Executive Director Jeremy Maxand, MA, ADAC.

Idaho Access Project featured on 'Affordable Housing Matters' podcast

Members of the Idaho Access Project were recently interviewed by Stephen Beard, founder of Accessible Housing Matters. a podcast and website devoted to the importance of housing that's accessible to people of all abilities. Click the link below to listen to the interview!

Episode 20 - The Idaho Access Project – A New Approach to Building Accessible Communities

Be sure to listen to other interviews on this great podcast! 

Idaho Access Project

The Idaho Access Project is making things happen in Idaho. 

This small nonprofit is has cultivated partnerships with local and state government, small businesses, transportation and land-use planners, recreation and outdoor advocates, and even working with Boise State University. The group's all-volunteer board is actively engaged in multiple committees, task forces and networks...all as part of its mission to "...eliminate physical, attitudinal, and policy barriers to ensure people with disabilities can live, work, and play in our neighborhoods and communities."

The group recently presented a session called 'Count Us In: Planning and Design for Community Health, Mobility and Safety' for the 2021 Rocky Mountain Land-Use Institute.