In today’s episode we’re going deep into a new, accessibility-focused company called WheelChariot. Here’s the skinny: it’s a Yelp-style reviewing website built entirely around the accessibility of different businesses, from physical barriers to entry through over-stimulating environments. I am personally fascinated by this idea, and I love the way it engages the disability community in a non-intrusive but still very impactful way.

My co-producer Laura and I had a conversation with WheelChariot’s founders, Tori Stopford and Gabriel Jones, who originally conceived their business idea in a business class they were taking at Georgia Tech. I was very impressed by these two, and although they are not people with lived experience they have clearly put a lot of effort into engaging the disability community for guidance and feedback.

This interview was recorded a few months ago, so some of the mentions of timeline will be outdated. As of this episode’s release, their website is fully operational with plenty of new information and ways to get registered. They have not yet launched their app, but that is the next big step in their plan. Hopefully we can catch up with WheelChariot when the app officially releases to give you all an update, but for now here’s Gabriel and Tori.

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Plan (2017-2021) goals of education; employment; self-advocacy; Real Communities; and formal and informal supports. The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with developmental disabilities and family members, will work through various advocacy and capacity building activities to build a more interdependent, self-sufficient, and integrated and included disability community across Georgia.

This project was supported, in part by grant number 2001GASCDD-03, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.