This is Bird-No.

Fray and McGregor is a coordinator of birdability.

An organization that works to make birding more accessible and inclusive

for people with disabilities.

She says that one of the big challenges

is that different parts of the accessible design don't get connected,

sometimes literally.

Like, there might be a nice paved trail for wheelchair users,

but then things like info signs don't take those same visitors into account.

I see interpretive signs that are nine feet away from the trail over a grassy surface,

or the sign is too high or the text is too small.

Very often we think that it's just one group of people that we're serving with this

modification and there's usually a whole stack of other people who benefit from it too.

Designing parks with accessibility in mind from the parking light and all along the trail

can help make outdoor experiences for people with disabilities more self-directed and independent.

Very often people are trying to be independent in whatever they're doing.

Yeah, okay, you could get help, but that's not the point.

Being outside in the woods or by a lake or somewhere by yourself,

like that has so much power that is very different than being there with a friend or a group.

And once accessibility improvements are made, how do people find out about it?

It's not just enough to go, oh well, we've built it, they should come.

You've got to be intentional, like we really want you here, like come join us.

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