SOBA Public Library

This presentation will offer valuable guidance on making waterfront accessible to people of all abilities. Adaptive boaters require specific accommodations to get themselves to the water, enter their vessel in the safest and easiest manner, and get out onto the water to paddle. It's been over 30 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, yet in many cases, accessibility is still determined by a checklist. ADA guidelines identify minimum design standards, therefore, when waterfront projects are built only to minimum standards rather than the specific adaptations that an adaptive boater requires, paddlers with greater needs are often excluded from participating. This presentation is structured to educate landscape architects, adaptive paddling groups, kayaking communities, park systems, and governmental bodies about the differences between an "accessible kayak launch" and an "adaptive kayak launch”. Accessible launches and adaptive launches are not synonymous.

Speaker:
Scott Tihansky, BoardSafe Docks