How technology can make national parks even more accessible

One in four adults in the United States has a disability.
Only 39% of Americans view national parks as an accessible travel option for all ability and disability levels.
Technology can help reduce barriers for park visitors with disabilities.

Kelly Dawson cannot walk for long, but cerebral palsy does not stop her from having adventures in the national parks of the USA.

She has seen the breathtaking views of the rims of the Grand Canyon and taken short walks through the giant cacti in Saguaro National Park. One of her favorite experiences was exploring the diverse wildlife in the Everglades on an airboat that she could easily board and disembark.

“The difference between what a disabled person wants to see and what a non-disabled person wants to see is very small. It just depends on how we deal with it,” Dawson, a Los Angeles-based author and disability activist, told USA TODAY.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four adults in the United States has a disability. For people with disabilities, exploring the country's most stunning natural landscapes in the more than 400 national parks can be daunting and inaccessible.

According to the recently released Outdoor Recreation Consumer Study by technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, only 39% of the 3,000 Americans surveyed consider national parks to be a travel option accessible to all ability and disability levels. The focus of the survey was to “know the magnitude of the current situation,” according to Will Healy, senior vice president at Booz Allen.

Dawson can understand why. “I think a lot of it comes down to perception,” she said. “I think when people think of wide open spaces and the wonderful opportunities of national parks, they think of hiking, camping and whitewater rafting – things that are very adventurous, very physical and far removed from everyday life.”

That's where technology comes in to help break down barriers for park visitors with disabilities, the survey found. From crowdsourced insights to specific details, making park information more accessible online means more people can explore the parks in a way that meets their individual needs.

National parks are there for all of us: What national parks can do to facilitate access to nature for people with disabilities

Nature is there for everyone

“Getting out to the local park, camping or hiking – there's adventure at every level, and everyone wants and needs it,” Healy said. “The fact that we can make that available to more people is just a good thing overall. It's a good thing for our community. It's a good thing for our country. It's a good thing for the individual.”

Making national parks inclusive is nothing new. The National Park Service is committed to “ensuring that people with disabilities have equal opportunities to benefit from our facilities, programs, services, and activities, whether indoors or outdoors,” the NPS website states. Each park service park has permanent accessibility coordinators.

The National Park Access Pass offers free lifetime admission to U.S. citizens with a permanent disability. There is also an interactive map that shows accessible features of different park locations, such as tactile models in visitor centers, ramps to restrooms, and whether a building is noisy.

“I believe national parks were designed from the start to be accessible. It's just a matter of doing as much research as you can,” Dawson added.

Closing the gap with technology

While accessibility in the parks is moving in the right direction, there is still a long way to go. In the survey, 84% of respondents said technology can lead to a more accessible park experience for everyone, including increasing awareness of wheelchair-accessible areas, crowdsourcing customized experiences and enabling feedback that can lead to park improvements.

These details could make a difference: Almost half of survey respondents said they would be “more likely” to visit a national park if they knew more about its accessibility.

“I know there is no one size fits all approach to accessibility,” Dawson said. “What is easy may not be easy, and what is considered difficult may be more accessible to me than it seems at first glance.”

When planning her trips to national parks, Dawson first researches the must-see attractions and considers the best way to get there. She looks for shorter hikes, hikes with rest stops, or other ways to explore the park that don't involve walking long distances, such as driving.

Because disabilities vary from person to person, it can be difficult to know if a trail or campground will accommodate a person's needs, even if it is considered ADA accessible. Some travelers may require quieter campgrounds with less sensory load, and this information is not always readily available.

Travelers currently still have to take an extra step of research to check out each campsite themselves, such as reading reviews from visitors. “The way I described it, it's like going to the library and looking for a book, but you don't have any guidance. You'd have to look through every single book, right?” Healy said.

Crowdsourcing visitor reviews can help ease the burden. 40% of respondents said they look for accessibility information in these reviews. Booz Allen hopes that creating a digital platform that consolidates this information would make things easier for travelers with special needs. “We want to make people's experiences easier to find and therefore more helpful when they're trying to make decisions,” Healy said.

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