Todd Hanson and Anne Weidman of Access Navigators have been honored with the 2019 Governor’s Accessibility Award. Presented by the New Hampshire Governor’s Commission on Disability, the award is given to individuals who have distinguished themselves through initiatives that embody the mission of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Access Navigators was nominated for this distinction by Krempels Center, a brain injury support center in Portsmouth, NH.

“It turns out there’s value in an architect having his mouth shut but his eyes open,” said Todd Hanson, founder of Access Navigators and principal at JSA. Hanson lives with a neuro-muscular disease that requires him to use a wheelchair for mobility and an iPad app for speech. “What makes this initiative unique is the multi-faceted approach of building community awareness, collecting useful accessibility information across the region, and educating businesses about using accessibility as an economic driver.”

Hanson and Weidman teach a course on community accessibility at the University of New Hampshire and credit the diligence of students in those classes with boosting the geographic expansion of the initiative across New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. “It takes a lot of leg work to cover all this territory,” said Weidman. “These students do a great job of getting it done. A win for them, and a win for the community.”