Access is Mile High at Invesco Field in Denver, CO

Although we checked out the NFL stadium Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado soon after it opened, we hadn't been back for a game or an access report in years, until last night.

For this year's Thanksgiving celebration, eight of us visited Invesco Field for the Broncos-NY Giants game (5 NYG fans and 3 Broncos fans among us). As always with most new, public facilities - especially those with fat wallets funding them - we were impressed with last night's access in general, but have a minor complaint about guidance and way-finding.

Let's get this out of the way first (before we boast about the access here- which really is excellent), we're used to being pointed out the access, and when we aren't and have to go out of our way to look for it, we have to report that. The ticket office gave us a head start when we purchased the tickets (excellent), by telling us where we'd be seated, and giving us a parking pass that got us closest to our seats. When we arrived, finding the G lot was easy, as was the stroll from lot to entrance. Look for the big wheelchair sign, and enter at the gate nearest your seats- again, easy enough. But from there no one showed us the elevator and before we knew it, we were rolling uphill to the 3rd deck. Craig is strong and fit, and we're all young and able - and perhaps he wasn't offered help because he was coated in Giants gear - but either way, we weren't lead to the easiest route for a wheelchair, but then we didn't sign up for the tour like we did at Yankee Stadium! The flow of a mob is forceful, so this is the only reason I point this out, and at least one of the SIX individuals taking our tickets, checking our bags, and sorting our group could have pointed the elevator or access route out to Craig.

Being that is our only complaint, once inside, the accessible seating is endless. We were on the upper deck which is level with the ramp entrance to it; the accessible seats right there at the bottom, with the rest of the upper-deck seating stretching above it, and the entire circumfrance of the field. The views from here were excellent, and its location to the restrooms perfect.

In the lower decks, the seating is more covered and protected, also right up against the bannister in clustered sections stretching the length of the field. All disabled sections offer power outlets, cup holders, vacant spots for visitors with their own chairs and scooters, and permanent accompanying seating for their companions.

Get there between 10am and 2pm and get a full tour of the stadium that includes the museum, store, media center, TV area, champions club, visitor's locker room, field and club levels.

Visit their website's ADA Access page for more information on ordering tickets, parking, power, closed captioning, and shuttle service. Seating isn't mentioned here, as tickets are sold through brokers, so make sure you are looking at a map of the arena when booking online or with an agent to know the best option for you.

@CaptionFish expands for the Blind

A revolutionary new website makes finding movies with captioning easy! As part of a massive effort to support entertainment accessibility for all people with disabilities, Captionfish launched in Beta format in May of this year with the goal of providing captioned film results for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Some highlights of the first beta release included:

• Effortless Searching: Using its Instant CC Film Finder, Captionfish offers the easiest way for visitors to find captioned movie results within 30 miles of their location.
• Comprehensive results: Captionfish's Instant CC Film Finder results can be customized for up to 7 days in the future or up to 60 miles away from a specified location.
• Open Captions and Rear Window® identification: Captionfish provides easy to identify icons that distinguish between an Open Captioned or Rear Window® Captioned showing.
• Mobile edition: Captionfish provides a mobile website optimized for mobile phones so deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors can find captioned movie results while they are on the go.
• Closed Captioned Trailers: Captionfish links to a growing list of closed captioned movie trailers so the deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors can enjoy previews of current and upcoming movie releases.
• RSS Feed for custom results: Captionfish enables an RSS feed so each visitor can check for the latest captioned film results using their preferred RSS reader wherever they like.

In August they improved upon their platform with these additions:

• Theater Directory: Captionfish shares all its theater information with you. This allows you to discover theaters around you that are currently providing or have provided captioned showtimes. This also gives you an opportunity to let us know about theaters that we don't know about.
• Movie Directory: We've opened up access to all of the movies and captioned trailers in our system. You're no longer limited to the titles that are playing in your area. We also give you early access to captioned trailers for upcoming movies, sometimes even those a few months out, like The Twilight Saga New Moon.
• Map/Directions: Found in the Theater Directory pages, Captionfish provides maps and directions to help all visitors plan their trip to the movies!
• Simplified Searching: The ability to change locations is now the most prominent feature. All visitors can search ANYWHERE in the USA to their heart's content!

And even more in October:

• Blog: Follow Captionfish updates on our new blog.
• Captioned Trailer Updates: Follow @cctrailers on Twitter or subscribe to our Movie Directory RSS feed to stay on top of all of the new captioned trailers that we're putting up.
• Caption Type Filtering: Filter the showtime listings to movies that are being shown using your preferred caption type (Open Captioned, Rear Window® Captioned, or Show All, if you don't care).
• Share Captionfish With Others: Let your family and friends know about Captionfish! Hand out flyers or place a badge on your blog and/or website!

This month they expanded yet again to include helpful information and now supports DVS (Descriptive Narration) in movie results! So now additionally people who are blind or have low vision can now filter their movie results to show just DVS movies by clicking the DVS only filter option. They hope this will help make finding movies easier, and empower them to make more informed consumer decisions to support theaters that proactively provide accessible solutions for the blind/low vision community.

• E-mail notifications: Get e-mail notifications when Captionfish finds captioned showtimes in your area for the movie(s) that you want to see! Look for this feature in the sidebar next to every trailer that you view.
• Revamped Movies Directory: We redesigned the movies directory page (now called trailer directory) to better organize and display all of our captioned trailers. New releases, upcoming movies, current showings, and previous showings are all listed separately in an easy to find format.
• Captioned Movie Indicator: There are times when Captionfish has shown captioned trailers for movies that are released without captions, leading the visitors to think that movie will be released with captions. To prevent confusion, we now tell you which movies are, or will be captioned in the theaters. Each of the individual trailer pages has a note on the right sidebar under the movie poster that lets you know if captions will be, are, or were available for the movie in theaters.
• Descriptive Narration Movies: Beginning Friday 11/13, Captionfish will start pulling in and listing movies that have descriptive narration (also known as DVS) which will benefit viewers who are blind or have low vision. You will also be able to filter on this on the results page!

Please pass this great service on to your list! Hurray for our friend Brendan in Seattle who has been helping CaptionFish to develop and grow! Please Tweet about them: @captionfish

Colorado's Nine National Parks, A Closer Look

We've diligently spent the last 2 weeks building an online database for you of the nine National Parks in Colorado at our article hub on Examiner, and we're eager to share them with you! First, check out our article on the how-to's of National Parks for PWD where we discuss web information, discount passes, and the basics of this all-inclusive system in the U.S.

If you're anywhere in the state of Colorado, one of these national gems is near you. They're all accessible, some more so than others, so we've broken them all down in one place. See the rating system below.

1. Bent's Old Fort - moderately accessible, for the history and Old West buffs

2. Black Canyon of the Gunnison - greatly accessible with trails, campgrounds, and vistas

3. Colorado National Monument - moderately accessible with one campground and great views

4. Curecanti National Recreation Area - poorly accessible because the boat tour is the key component of this park, and having it not accessible is a bummer

5. Dinosaur National Monument - fully accessible, even the flight seeing off-site is! Awesome park!

6. Florissant Fossil Beds - moderately accessible, for the rock and fossil buffs

7. Great Sand Dunes - greatly accessible, dunes with assistance only, raised tent beds in campgrounds, awesome park

8. Mesa Verde - greatly accessible, most dwellings are viewable from a wheelchair

9. Rocky Mountain - greatly to fully accessible, some trails aren't but the options are plentiful



Access Anything's Rating System:

Not Accessible - Really, just not.
Poorly Accessible - Doable with help, but poor access- meaning the bathrooms aren't accessible, or the parking isn't... it's missing something major, but the main site is ok.
Moderately Accessible - Most of it's accessible, but a few things (trails or campgrounds) aren't.
Greatly Accessible - 90-99% accessible, usually just one thing is missing.
Fully Accessible - Go looking, you won't find anything without universal design. Think Disney.

Top 3 Ski Areas in the State

The writer and her husband Craig, in Winter Park
(C) Access Anything

The three main things that Access Anything looks for in a ski area when we want to recommend it to fellow people with disabilities (PWD) are:

1. General access of the ski area base - parking, equipment storage, and location to lodging

2. Lodging - several price options with great access near the base

3. Getting around - on the mountain and in town; local accessible transportation as well as ski area ease. (Ski areas with multiple peaks and lifts that don't connect to each other, or those without accessible public transit aren't our first choice for PWD.)

Having been to all 9 of the ski areas that have adaptive programs in Colorado, we've picked out the top three for PWD- the newbies out there that want to try skiing, but don't want the hassles of figuring it all out on your own, the experienced skier but newbie to Colorado, or the expert skier who just wants the best snow and easiest way to get to it! These three areas best cater to PWD needs before you arrive, while you're here, on the mountain, and off the mountain.

A. Winter Park - the National Sports Center for the Disabled since 1970

While we hang our skis next door in Steamboat, we still can't argue that WP's ski area is hands-down the best all around for all levels of skiers with disabilities who are either traveling on their own or with their family and friends. Why? From start to finish, WP covers your needs like grandma's homemade afghan blanket.

The winning combination: What 40 years of experience will bring you:

• General Access: You name it, in WP it's accessible. From restaurants to lodging to the ski area, any disability is covered here. Don't even call the restaurant, seriously. Now that kind of reliability is what makes the best, the very best.
• Lodging: Their central reservations department can answer every question on lodging before you get there, helping you find lodging from Bed and Breakys, hotels, to condos. [800-453-2525]
• Getting Around: Both the Paratransit [(970) 726-4163] and the free city shuttle can help you get around the town of Winter Park. On the mountain, the NSCD will give you a lesson or a ski buddy, and has made sure that the mountain is a fabulous place for PWD.

B. Steamboat Springs - 2nd oldest adaptive program in the state, 1976

While it might sound like we're biased by all the 'Boat plugging we do, it's not for naught, I promise. Steamboat Adaptive was established just 6 years after the NSCD, boasting 33 years of experience this year, and it's just getting better. Access Anything has made sure that the last five years have been dedicated to improvements around the base and training all ski area departments on sensitivity, equipment, and needs, and a new nonprofit STARS has just taken over the operation of the adaptive school to expand its sports programming to other sports. Access Anything also teams up with Adaptive Adventures to offer one of the best advanced, adult ski camps in the state every January.

• General Access: The multi-level base area might seem daunting, but the 3D map online and 4-yr old way finding signage will get point you in the right direction from the free parking (just for PWD) to the base. The Gondola is accessible and its staff will store your monoski overnight.
• Lodging: As with Winter Park, Steamboat's Central Res [800-922-2722] staff is well trained annually to handle PWD's needs and the plethora of lodging gives options to everything.
• Getting Around: Every free city bus in Steamboat has a lift on it, and the city also provides a Paratransit. Go Alpine also have several accessible options that double as airport shuttles and in-town taxis.

C. Aspen - the Veteran's Choice

Home to Challenge Aspen, a relatively new program in the state (1995), Aspen has hosted the DAV Ski Week (Disabled American Veterans) for years, bringing thousands of disabled vets into the area to have some fun on the slopes. While the other ski areas and adaptive programs are just as great, we've found that Aspen is the one that has to slide into this tough #3 spot for it's ability to fit all three of our major needs.

• General Access - While skiing IS split up in this area between 4 mountains, Snowmass is the one we send PWD to for its relations with Challenge Aspen, acreage of terrain, friendly lifts system and employees, and base area access.
• Lodging - The best part about lodging in this area is that PWD get great support through Challenge Aspens donors, so call the adaptive program for the posh treatment whether you're getting a lesson or not. [970-923-0578]
• Getting Around - All mountain shuttle buses have lifts here as well, and the parking is best in Lot 6 or 7 to get the closest to the slopes.

Know all this information and more with Access Anything: Colorado, the only guide to the state for PWD.

More on Colorado Adpative Travel Examiner

No Yoke in New York

We recently returned from a two day visit to New York City, and the access we found there was leagues better than we'd expected, especially their modes transportation, the subject with the most need of improvements in the US.

Our first tour was at Yankee Stadium, where the access goes above and beyond the ADA thanks to a staff well-educated on impeccable customer service. We took Vega Transportation, the premier accessible van service in the area, to get from Newark, where we were on business, up to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Although more pricey than the subway, Vega is way more reliable than any other transportation we found, so if you use a power chair or scooter, need to get to a more specific destination, have a big entourage with you, or the need for a more limo-type service, Vega is definitely the way to get around the city quickly and easily. Once in the stadium, we got a free tour (offered to all PWD who as) to Monument Park, 1st base-line batting practice, the Museum, and a tour of the entire park, as well $5 bleecher seats. Craig, a die-hard Yankee fan since the womb, was brimming with excitement from the moment we entered Gate 2's Yankee Lobby.

On day two we took the train from Craig's sister's flat in Prospect Park in Brooklyn to Times Square, to pick up Gray Line Tours. All of their “hop-on, hop-off” buses have lifts and friendly tour guides, each with their own personal encyclopedia of New York knowledge. This is hands-down the best way to see New York City and learn about the sights; at your own leisure, over a course of two days, with as many knowledgeable tour guides as you can cram in and cheaply. Tours take off from their office on 4^2nd St., where you can also buy discounted passes to various sights like Liberty Island, the Met, Broadway, Empire State, and more, or get a package deal for a 72-hour bus pass and a dozen other sites included.

Back to the subway topic- while it is true that only a small portion of the NYC subway system have accessible stops, we found it very easy to manage our day around these stops by planning our trip in advance. Visit the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)’s website to find a list of the accessible stops, and plan your trip accordingly. The site is very helpful right down to which elevators are temporarily out of service, which at the time of our trip, there were only three that were. We also found that the “way-finding,” or signage, in the subway system is superb. The elevators and some exits would be hard to find in the maze of this underground system without proper signage, and we give our hats off to MTA for excellent way finding. There are also text-capable payphones at the accessible stations for persons with hearing impairments. In addition, if you are there for an extended period of time, there is a discount pass to the subway system that you can also find on MTA’s link above.

Last, we were short on time to get back to Newark Airport to fly out, and took the subway from Brooklyn to Times Square Station, where $15 Coach USA shuttles to the airport leave every 15 minutes, and are half price to riders with disabilities. To get one with a lift, you have to call 48 hours in advance and know your time of departure; easy enough.

One last resource that we didn’t use is Access-A-Ride, MTA’s additional “paratransit” service for people with disabilities. Because you do have to apply to use this system in advance, and our important subway stops were all accessible, we didn’t do so. But if you know you’re going to need reliable transportation, they're easy to contact and cheap to use Access-A-Ride if you need it.

Don't let daunting NYC keep you from traveling, it's an awe-inspiring city of great access.