HandiAcc, LLC:  Making the Inaccessible Accessible

Story by Katrice Williams
Photos by Leidy Lester

I want to make everything accessible for people with disabilities,” Joshua Williams states. Joshua is the chief executive officer of HandiAcc, LLC.

Most individuals can freely enjoy simple pleasures such as dinner at a nice restaurant, browsing through a preferred clothing store or cheering on a favorite team at a football game. Joshua would like to freely experience those opportunities as well.

The 2020 Georgia Southern University graduate likes being an outgoing guy whenever possible. The NASCAR-loving college football enthusiast just happens to have a disability—cerebral palsy. As a result, Joshua uses a wheelchair for mobility, and he also endures some vision impairment.

A Disability is not Defining

Upon obtaining his degree, Joshua was denied about 100 jobs that he had applied for, and it was not because he did not meet any of the required skill sets. He felt the interviewers only saw the wheelchair and disability instead of him and the asset he could be to their business.

“They would look and stare at me. Even though I had the qualifications, they still would not hire me,” he says.

 Joshua has never liked the stares. He also does not like to be referred to as a “special-needs” individual; he just lives with a disability … period. It in no way defines him—his character or his competence.

Joshua is one of many individuals across the globe living with some type of disabling impairment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “1.3 billion people (16% of the world’s population) experience significant disability.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that “approximately one in four adults (61 million people) in the United States reports living with at least one disability.”

It is surprising that there have been few improvements made in providing proper public accessibility for individuals with disabilities in an era of unprecedented intellect, innovation and ingenuity; that said, everything that appears to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines does not always provide proper accommodations for effective accessibility.

An Instrument for Change

Joshua’s mom Mitzi Proffitt has worked alongside the Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) - Georgia for quite some time; the 501(c)(3) organization “helps parents of children with disabilities (ages 0-26) support their child's growth and development.”

Through PTI, Mitzi helped Joshua connect with a phenomenal program—Synergies Work—“a platform that connects disabled entrepreneurs with resources, networks, and communities” that help them in their professional endeavors. He was privileged to have an outstanding mentor while in the program. Joshua completed the eight-week entrepreneurial program and earned himself an entrepreneurial ribbon.

He decided to be an instrument of positive change, not just for himself, but for countless others. Alongside Mitzi, he began noting his overall experience as a customer at various establishments. When he visited them, he regarded the smallest of details, such as maneuverability challenges and overall accessibility, along with how the staff treated him. Afterwards, the two informed each venue of the issues they noticed, and they recommended ways for them to become more accessible for those with disabilities.

“We would make certain suggestions like encouraging them to add yellow paint on the sidewalk outside so everyone could see whenever they were coming up the sidewalk so as not to fall off the curb. We might suggest a certain bush be trimmed so that a person in a wheelchair would not run into it, or we might suggest widening the aisles of a store. When Joshua would go to the counter to check out, he’d pay attention to how the staff would treat him,” Mitzi states. Joshua and Mitzi wanted to officially partner with some of the businesses to help implement the positive changes.

HandiAcc, LLC

In 2022, HandiAcc, LLC was born. HandiAcc’s mission is to educate businesses on how to be more accessible for people with disabilities; it’s all about good and necessary communication.

However, it goes far beyond helping those with more obvious disabilities.

“It can help elderly people who may move more slowly or even a person who has to use a walker,” Mitzi says.

The HandiAcc process is quite simple. To begin, Joshua and Mitzi contact various businesses—retailers, restaurants, pharmacies, etc; they then set up meetings with those who are interested in a HandiAcc presentation, or a “roll in.”

During the roll in, Joshua explains the purpose and benefits of partnering with HandiAcc. When a business contractually agrees to become a partner, he evaluates the location right from his wheelchair. He assesses the overall accessibility and also takes photos for a picture presentation and gives feedback and suggestions, outlining any modifications that should be made. He, too, does staff sensitivity training so that employees understand how to properly interact with disabled customers. 

Joshua gives each business an overall review and rates it on a HandiAcc accessibility scale – i.e. 80% accessible (the higher the percentage, the more accessible the venue). Reviews and ratings are shared with the public on the HandiAcc website (handiacc.llc) or via Meta and Twitter. Joshua also does a follow-up evaluation with each business after a year.

“It’s just him having conversations with them; he’s basically consulting from his wheelchair. It’s from his perspective. Some recommendations are things businesses just don’t think about. A lot are not even extremely expensive. We want to be a friend of the business. We want to help them help their community by making their business more accessible to all people,” Mitzi mentions.

HandiAcc services the entire state of Georgia. Over the past year, Joshua has secured business partnerships from the local Georgetown area all the way to North Georgia communities. HandiAcc’s first partnership was with none other than the Forest Heights Pharmacy team in Statesboro. Taking Joshua’s recommendations to heart, the pharmacy prudently made accessibility improvements.

What is more, on August 17, Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) agreed to partner with HandiAcc after first meeting with Joshua in July. AMS agreed to make appropriate changes to their facilities to improve accessibility.

“I was happy. I have a verbal agreement with Atlanta Motor Speedway,” Joshua states. AMS has asked Joshua to train their staff in 2024 and advocate for accessibility.

Joshua and Mitzi are confident that HandiAcc will make a positive difference in the lives of many individuals—those who desire to do much more in life but often find the challenges of inaccessibility to be overwhelming.

“They want to go to places and do things. In this day and time, they should never be unable to go into a place because there are only stairs but no ramp; that is unacceptable,” Mitzi says. Joshua wholeheartedly agrees.

“And that’s why I don’t go,” he remarks.

Mitzi feels that such a lack of accommodations is both unfair and unreasonable.

“That is sad; it’s sad when they can’t experience things that should be for everybody,” she states.

Looking ahead, the team wants to grow the business. Continuous booms in commercialization resulting from the rapid growth in the local area and throughout the state forecast a promising future for HandiAcc. Developing sound relationships with local and statewide chambers of commerce can be beneficial.

Joshua appreciates his mom; she is always right by his side. Mitzi is grateful that her son has embraced a calling that he is truly passionate about.

“He loves what he does. He’s good at it because he lives it. We pray for our next customer because we figure that God is going to put us where we need to be,” she says.