DENVER ANNOUNCES NEW WEB SITE FOR DISABLED VISITORS & RESIDENTS
Helping visitors and residents with disabilities navigate in and around Denver remains a high priority in the city. To make it easier to find resources and relevant services, the City and County of Denver teamed with the Denver Commission for People with Disabilities and a number of volunteer organizations to consolidate information at www.denvergov.org/accessibledenver.
"We’re proud to be a part of this unique service to the disabled community," said Mayor John Hickenlooper. "Many thanks to the tremendous number of volunteers and partners throughout the city who worked tirelessly on this project. It gives our residents and visitors a chance for new experiences, to know more people in the community, and to experience the city in a way they have not known was possible."
Launched in time for the influx of visitors attending the Democratic National Convention, the site offers visitors suggestions on what to pack for each season, managing the high altitudes and helpful tips on getting around the city. In addition, tactical information is readily available for both visitors and residents such as a list of places to take a service animal for recreation or in an emergency, along with hundreds of listings of disability-related businesses and organizations.
"Denver is a very accessible city," said William Lundgren, a blind psychotherapist who was the initiator of this project, "but we have the need and have the opportunity to let people in on our secret. This web site is an effort to let the world know what we have available."
Another feature of the site is that individuals with disabilities were the key developers of the project. "It was a team effort of volunteers and City agencies and staff," said Lundgren. "This will continue to be a work in progress for some time to come. The committee will continue to welcome suggestions for making this site even more useful."
The site was created by members and friends of the Denver Commission for People with Disabilities, Denver Office of Disability Rights, and City’s Technology Services Department, Human Rights and Community Relations, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee and St. Barnabas Parish-Denver.