Improving the Accessibility of Fitness and Recreation Facilities for Persons with Disabilities is a 4-year study that is part of Project RecTech, a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The purpose of this study is to examine the barriers to accessibility of parks, trails, swimming pools, and fitness facilities.

The cell phone camera is an effective tool for communicating existing barriers as it supplements and clarifies some of the questionnaire responses. The cell phone camera images enable researchers to see and understand the difficulties as we evaluate them on-site. Part of the difficulty with ADA compliance and accessibility is that architects and contractors seldom understand the "whys" of the ADA.

Read the entire column at http://www.ncpad.org/268/1707/Cameras~Help~Researchers~Spot~Access~Barriers.