The inspiration behind Charlottesville entrepreneur Joe Jamison's decision to create startup VisitAble was his father.
In 2019, during his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, Jamison was required to create a business as part of his capstone course. He developed an accessibility test and disability ettiequte training for businesses, based on the experiences of his father who is paraplegic and has been in a wheelchair for years.
"We were told to choose something we were passionate about," he said. "My father has been in a wheelchair my whole life, so I was motivated to help those with mobility issues."
The startup was incorporated in August 2019, and VisitAble became Jamison's focus. He said the startup's goal is to improve the customer experience for those with mobility issues and help businesses and other public and private entities improve their accessibly and services for those customer through certified training and consulting.
"I began focusing on problems related to the difference between ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance and practical accessibility," he said. "In my experiences, those issues led to discrepancies in the amount of available accessibility. Oftentimes, my father was treated differently because he was in a wheelchair.
Jamison said ADA compliance doesn't mean a business or building is accessible to those with mobility issues. VisitAble's certification is meant to train businesses on how to improve practical accessibility and overall ettiequte toward the disabled population.
"Our training goes deep into disability etiquette guidelines and covers things like person-first or identity-first language, how to interact with customers who have mobility issues, industry-specific best practices, service animal guidelines, ableism and words and phrases to avoid," he said.
Currently, 31 businesses and two government entities in Charlottesville and surrounding areas have completed or are working on becoming certified via VisitAble's training course. Those who complete the certification receive a virtual badge for their websites and a sticker to place on a door or window of their establishment.
In addition to the training course, each business is required to undergo an accessibility test that includes a "secret shopper." This, Jamison said, will help determine the strengths, weaknesses and needs of each businesses as they complete the certification.
Jamison said VisitAble isn't just for businesses, however. The other piece of the puzzle are, of course, are the people who will benefit the most from the services.
"Customers can go on our website and view our businesses database," he said. "That's the magic sauce, to have this free resource for people with disabilities so they can explore accessibility ahead of time, rate locations and share photos."
While VisitAble is currently available as a web platform only, Jamison said in the next six to 12 months he has plans to begin developing a mobile app. He also has plans to expand use of the platform to central Virginia in the coming months, beginning with Richmond.