[ Music ] >> The following program may contain strong language and brief nudity, but don't get your hopes up. After all, this is Public Access TV. [ Background sounds ] >> Gene: Welcome to another edition of The Gene and Dave Show, You know, Dave, I'm really excited, because this show is all about access in Austin. >> Dave: Austin is a fantastic place to live, and it's an incredible place to come visit, too. And with SXSW every year, man, people come by the millions. >> Gene: They do, from all over the world. So we've got some access ideas for you. Now, when you fly into the airport, there are several ways you can get into town. One way is the SuperShuttle. Now, the SuperShuttle will have accessible vans, but you'll need to phone for a reservation ahead of time. They're not as efficient as the taxis, but they are a bit cheaper, and they'll take you from the airport to wherever, your hotel or wherever else you're staying. >> Dave: Just don't wait till you get there; call ahead. That's what they ask. >> Gene: Yeah. You'll save some time that way. Now, of course we do have accessible cabs, like Lone Star and Yellow Cab. Just tell them, make sure you want a handicapped accessible cab, and they'll send that over. >> Dave: And you can call ahead on those, too. >> Gene: Good point, Dave, yeah. Now, your hotel may pick you up. If they have a complimentary shuttle, ask them if ask them if it's accessible. If it isn't, ask them if they'll comp you for a taxi. This way you can phone for an accessible cab; they'll pick you up and the hotel will pay for it. Pretty sweet deal, huh? How else can you get into town, Dave? >> Dave: Well, you know, Gene, there's another company in town called Keep Austin Mobile. They're a nonprofit company, and their goal is to help people that have a hard time getting around with disabilities get from their home to a doctor's appointments, or even recreation. In fact, the Web site says: "Keeping Austin Mobile's goal is to provide safe, reliable and friendly transportation for people in Austin, Texas and the surrounding areas." They offer their free -- note I said free -- service to people needing a ride to work, medical appointments, school, or -- my favorite -- recreational activities. >> Gene: I like the word "free." >> Dave: That's right. >> Gene: I like the sound of that. >> Dave: Free is good, and they'll take you there, no matter what your need is. If you have a doctor's appointment, great, they'll take you, or if it's for recreation; if it's just a night on the town, give them a call and they'll come pick you up. I know that they have wheelchair-accessible vans. It's just a great organization that's here in town. They're pretty small, so again recommend calling ahead and making plans on going out either to your doctor or to your favorite restaurant for an evening. But definitely call ahead. You can also log onto their Web site. They've got a form on there that you can give all your information, and it sends them an e-mail on when you want to travel, and they'll give you a call and set all that up. Now, also, it is a free service but they work on donations. So with gas prices as high as they are and people just trying to make a living, you might keep a few extra bucks in your pocket to hand them when they come pick you up. But it's a really great service, and I highly recommend it. >> Gene: Good recommendation, Dave. Now, people are coming to Austin, but they're not coming to the airport, let's say, or let's say they're coming by Greyhound. You got any recommendations there, Dave? >> Dave: Greyhound gets you there, right? >> Gene: It sure does. >> Dave: And they are wheelchair-accessible. >> Gene: Yeah. Now, it used to be you had to call 24 hours ahead of time to get an accessible Greyhound. I don't know if that's still true, but it is a big help. And of course, you can take a cab -- Metro bus from the Greyhound station to downtown if you like, or just about anywhere else in town, so that works out pretty good, too. So in terms of transportation, we've got it made. >> Dave: Amtrak is also another accessible option. If you want to take a train into Austin from outside, you can always see the countryside by taking an Amtrak train. >> Gene: So people, what's your excuse? Come visit us in Austin. >> Dave: That's right. So Gene, once you get here, how do you get around Austin? What are some of the ways? >> Gene: Oh, okay. we've got a number of options. Now, one, is the city bus, Cap Metro is 100% accessible. You can see the ramps just folds out of the bus. It's easy to roll on, park in there. It's usually a dollar for a full-day access for someone in a wheelchair or mobility impairment. And that was one of the reasons I moved to Austin; the accessible bus service, get around just about anywhere. Of course, there's the taxi, like you mentioned. >> Dave: Well, most recently, since you're on the Cap Metro subject, they've also added the Cap Metro Rail. >> Gene: Oh, good point. >> Dave: Which comes around to the rail stations oh, about every hour or so. So you could -- and all their information on where the trains are going and what time they get to the stations is all on their Web site at capmetro.org. >> Gene: Now, you took the train coming into SXSW last year. >> Dave: I did. It was a good time. It was fun. SXSW, they're running the train services all weekend long, Saturday and Sunday. Normally they don't operate on the weekends, although I think that's changing. They're adding some evening hours on Friday night and even Saturday night for those folks that want to come in from other parts of Austin, up north and come downtown to the night life on 6th Street. >> Gene: And if you don't like the cabs or you don't like the buses, I suppose you can rent a car. Now, it used to be they didn't have hand controls, but nowadays, nowadays you can; call ahead-- >> Dave: That's right. >> Gene: -- have them put some hand controls on. >> Dave: And a place that we recommend for that is Austin Mobility Solutions. They're one of the newest providers in town. They're located centrally in the Pflugerville area right off of I-35. They have vans that you can rent that are accessible that have easy locks, hand controls, or also cars with just hand controls in them. And it's also a good place that if you own your own vehicle, they can do repairs and fix you. They also have an emergency service that I'm quite fond of, because it's always when you're out and about and your vehicle breaks down, it never breaks down at home where you have ramp problems or hand control problems or lift issues. But you can call -- you can call Austin Mobility Solutions and they'll come help you out, especially if you're one of their regular customers. You can also look them up online at austinmobility.com. >> Gene: You're just a fountain of information. >> Dave: I am. I have done my research. >> Gene: And if cars aren't your cup of tea, there's vans. Accessible vans, you can rent one from premierevanrentals.com, and they'll set you up so you'll be in good shape to get all over Austin. Now, if all of those options don't satisfy you, then I would suggest calling Dave. Dave will come pick you up. He's got a modified accessible van. You'll be happy to do that, won't you, Dave? >> Dave: Oh, yeah, sure. I have nothing else to do, so, yeah, I'll come by and pick you up for a small fee. >> Gene: Now, when you get to Austin, you're going to want accessible accommodations. Now, there are several ways you can find accessible accommodations. If you like bed and breakfasts, try Airbnb. Now, I'm using this service, and I'm really satisfied with it. People will put their bed and breakfast, either they have a room to rent or they have an apartment or even a whole house. They've got them available online with pictures, descriptions, what attractions are nearby, and it'll also list whether it's accessible or not. And if you have any questions, you go ahead and e-mail folks, find out more about your property, so that's one way. >> Dave: That's pretty funny, Gene. I never took you for a bed and breakfast type of guy. >> Gene: I surprise you sometimes, don't I? >> Dave: You do, you do. >> Gene: But more than likely you may be staying in a hotel, and there have been some changes to the ADA this past year that take place March of this year. The two major changes are one, in the way they take reservations. They should have a lot more information available to you. They'll get more information from you, exactly what your needs are. And the other changes is a pool. They're requiring hotels to have lifts in their pool, or otherwise make it accessible, possibly with ramps. SO those are the two major changes. >> Dave: Yeah, that'll be good information to have, Gene, being able to know that if a room has a rolling shower or not, boy, that's going to make a world of change, because right now when I call the 800 number to make a reservation for a hotel room, they always don't know if that hotel has a rolling shower. So you've got to go and call the local number, and then you ask the local people, and they say, well, I'm not sure, either. And they put you on hold and you hear the pitter patter of feet walkway from the phone, and then they actually come back and say, yeah, we do, or they have no idea even what a rolling shower is some of the times. SO that will be a great ADA change. It's also really hard to search for particular items on the Internet. >> Gene: Yeah. I mean, you could do a web search, and you'll find different accommodations listed, but you know, the ADA requires all hotels to be accessible. >> Dave: Right, to be able to get in the front door. >> Gene: Yeah. >> Dave: Whether you can get into the bed or take a shower once you get there, though, is another story. >> Gene: Yeah, everyone's got a different idea of accessibly. >> Dave: That's right. >> Gene: So hopefully the ADA will standardize that for us. >> Dave: So you did some searching on the Internet for a hotel? >> Gene: Yeah, I-- >> Dave: Why don't you tell us about that? >> Gene: Yeah, I did some searching and I found -- I found one place that had -- talked a lot about accessibility in Austin. But we're not going to mention them on the Gene and Dave Show because a number of their links weren't working. They listed the prices of a number of hotels, but it was all out of date. So be careful. if you find something with the prices listed, it's probably out of date. But otherwise, yeah, a web search will bring you up a lot of different hotels. When I search for Austin, though, I like to look for the downtown area specifically. That way I can stay in a hotel that's near all the attractions. I won't have to rent a car; rarely use the bus, just stay downtown. >> Dave: Yeah and you can roll wherever you need to go. >> Gene: Yep. Now, speaking of hotels, making reservations, I always ask if they have discounts for AARP or any other types of discounts. It can save me some big bucks. >> Dave: AAA, things like that. >> Gene: Exactly. Yeah, Austin hotels, we were fortunate enough to have Tracy Terrell from the Marriott -- the Courtyard and Residence Inn at Marriott show us around, and show us what a good accessible hotel room looks like. >> Dave: What a nice hotel and a nice tour. >> Gene: Yeah, and we really want to give her a shout out for being so nice to us. It all starts with easy access into the hotel. >> "Hey, welcome to the Gene and Dave Show. If you need a place to stay downtown Austin here at the Convention Center, boy, he picked none other than the Marriott. They've got both Courtyard and Residence Inn in one hotel, so you can take your pick. Come on with us and let's check out the rooms." >> Gene: Into the elevators, and of course, the door. I love those levered handles, and you see those magnetic cards makes it nice and easy. Of course you do not ask a lot of questions when you make reservations, but when you get into the hotel, make sure there's plenty of room around the bed. Like, at the Courtyard, boy, those rooms are roomy. >> Dave: Yeah, we had a lot of room to move around, and that sort of thing. >> Gene: Yeah. You may want to take a look around and see if there's room under the bed. You pointed this out to me, Dave. I suppose they have a choice of either platform or a frame bed, and you were telling me with a frame bed, you can get a lift underneath. >> Dave: Yeah, it's another thing to be -- to ask about. It's another question that a lot of times they have to go to the room and look for themselves, because they just -- they don't know. They're not necessarily used to that, but if you travel with a Hoyer lift, you'll know that the lift needs to slide underneath the bed. And a lot of times they put platforms underneath the bed, and I guess it's to keep people from throwing their dirty laundry or losing things, laundry toys, children, things like that, underneath the bed where you can't find them or that you leave them once you check out of the hotel. But it's really nice to be able to have that little space underneath there. If you do use a Hoyer lift, you need to slide underneath the bed. >> Gene: Now, for me, I do sliding board transfer, so I like to have the bed about the same height as the seat of my wheelchair, so I might ask them when I'm making reservations what the height of the bed is. It's certainly something to -- well, that kind of information is just real helpful. >> Dave: Usually in the hotel they're pretty high right, Gene? >> Gene: Yeah, yeah, they are, but yeah, that goes with the territory. Everyone's got a different idea of accessibility. >> Dave: That's right. >> Gene: Now, the shower, you mentioned a roll-in shower -- really nice. Some places don't have the roll-in shower, but they do have the bench seat in the tub, and for people that can transfer that way, that helps out a lot. >> Dave: Yeah, that's an accommodation. Some of the equipment, they can add to the room, shower seats. And also, if you happen to be a little person, a lot of them have stools or small ladders that you can step up on to be able to reach the sinks. >> Gene: Yeah, now, the Marriott was very accommodating. They had both the rolling shower, then they had the tubs with the bench seats. And I believe Tracy mentioned they had the steps. >> Dave: They do. They have the stools. >> Gene: So very helpful there. And always remember: conserve water; shower with a friend. [ Background sounds ] >> Dave: That's as long as that friend's not me. >> Gene: The one thing that's important to me is, having an accessible table I can get underneath some place to put my coffee or food or reading material or whatever. And Tracy was showing us at the Courtyard, this one table you could pull out from underneath the desk, I suppose it is, pull the one table out, set your food on, whatever, so you've got two separate tables. And of course, when you're done with it, you roll it back underneath the other, the desk. And it's such a clever idea. >> Dave: Which was really nice, because there was two different heights for the tables, depending upon your situation, whether you need a higher table, or you need something a little bit lower. >> Gene: Yeah, yep, good point. The closets, you want to make sure you can reach everything in the closet the hangers and whatnot and the irons, so they're in reach, so Dave, so you can do my ironing, while we're on the road. >> Dave: Well, don't hold your breath on that one. >> Gene: Okay. You also want to make sure the amenities are accessible, such as pool, gym, hotel restaurant. You know, when I was traveling a lot, Dave, I would always want to make sure I could exercise. I'd got to a hotel, and if they didn't have an accessible exercise room I'd look for the nearest YMCA. But a lot of us like to exercise, so hopefully the hotels will be making more -- making their rooms more accessible in terms of equipment that we can use. >> Dave: And at the Marriott we were able to get into the exercise room and access the equipment up the long ramp there; although we weren't able to get into the pool, but according to the ADA standards, that one's going to be coming. >> Gene: Yep, that will be coming. And out on the balcony next to the pool, that was so nice. >> Dave: That was nice. >> Gene: And you could actually see the Convention Center across the street, so the Courtyard at Marriott is really conveniently located. And it's -- the hotel's in close proximity to public transportation; if you do want it, the buses are right there, right around the corner. You could easily get a cab, so that would be my choice of staying in Austin, to see the Courtyard or Residence Inn at Marriott. >> Dave: So Gene, let's show the viewers a view of the Marriott-Austin's Web site. >> Gene: There you go, folks. That's where you go if you want to come to Austin. >> Dave: Yeah, they have their own Web site for that Marriott here in Austin, so make sure you check out that Web site. Also, on there not only things about the hotel but they make it specific to Austin and show you things that are going on around downtown, and it is one of those Web sites that is current, so check it out. >> Gene: And you also might want to ask them what kind of working relationships they have with other businesses. For example, at the Marriott they have a relationship with Whole Foods, where you can -- whatever you buy at Whole Foods they will deliver to you. They also have -- I mean, while we were there, someone from Jimmy John's came in delivering a sandwich, so getting food delivered is no problem, and their little store there with the food is open 24 hours >> Dave: That's right, and then at the end of our tour with Tracy, she was so kind as to buy us a fresh cup of Starbuck's Coffee, which is also located in their hotel. >> Gene: Very nice. >> Dave: I think I'm just going to go live there, Gene. >> Gene: Yes, very comfortable. Now, I do have some suggestions for folks when they're checking into a hotel. Ask the bell hop to go with you to the room. And you want to do this for several reasons. One, of course to carry your luggage, because we're big stars; we don't need to carry our luggage. But also when we get to the room, we're going to want to make sure that everything -- that we don't have too much furniture in the room. Sometimes even though it's an accessible room they'll have several chairs there that might get in the way. You could ask the bell hop to take those out of the room. You can make sure that if it's a hand-held shower, that it's down where you can reach it, so you want to double-check that, make sure the towels and such are down low where you can reach them, and you also found out they got an accessible thermostat. Wow, that was nice. >> Dave: That's right. It's just the little things, you know. You got to be able to reach the thermostat when you get there, to make sure that the temperature is set to your liking. >> Gene: Yeah, I can't tell you how many hotels I've been do, I couldn't see the -- the thermostat was set so high, I couldn't see what number it was on. And of course, also the sinks, you want to make sure you're able to get underneath those. >> Dave: Wow, another very nice accessible feature. Here in the kitchenette is being able to open the doors underneath the sink and actually roll under. There's no kick plate or anything underneath, so I'm able to pull right up underneath the sink, and Gene could do the same and actually do our dishes. So this is a fantastic place. I can also reach the cook top from this area. So once again, another very accessible point. I think if I was going to be staying here for any long point of time, I would probably see if we could move the microwave over to this area and also be able to reach, because quite frankly I do most of my cooking in the microwave. Microwave or bowl of cereals, where my dinner's at. So anyway, man, this is just a really great room. I think I could live here. >> Gene: Now, if you're wondering about accessible hotel requirements, you can check out www.ada.gov or adahospitality.org, or the Southwest ADA Center here in Texas, which is www.dlrp.org. And they've got plenty of information for you folks there. >> Dave: Yeah, those are all good Web sites to check out. I mean, if you are a person with a disability, check them out and know your rights. Know what needs to be accessible so that when you come upon a situation, you can know whether the law mandates that or not. And on the other side of the coin, if you're a hotel owner or a restaurant owner and want to know what accommodations that you need to make, because you just might not know or understand what things need to be changed so that you can welcome in more patrons; and by more patrons I mean people that have disabilities, check out those Web sites so that you can get your restaurant up to code before Gene and I or someone from CTD or ADAPT try to come rolling in. >> Gene: Well, I got an idea. Let's talk about the reasons to come to Austin, the accessible amenities, the arts -- the accessible arts; my goodness. Well, you and I got our start in Actual Lives. >> Dave: Right. >> Gene: It was a program that Chris Strickling was doing-- >> Dave: With Celia Hughes and Terry Galloway. >> Gene: Exactly. >> Dave: The three of them started it. >> Gene: And it's a program to get books with disabilities, like ourselves who are very talented, up on stage. We do our own writing, we wrote about real events in our lives, and perform it on stage. >> Gene on stage: The mighty lion separates his prey from the herd. >> Gene: So you'll be looking for one of those performances. I remember one time we did a show in Dallas -- of course our shows, we have interpreters, and the CART, the program where they will put it in writing up on a big board so those with hearing impairments can see what's being said. But I remember, we had to do a show once in Austin and one of our interpreters was helping us get our make-up on, and of course, I was complaining. And she just looked at me and said, "Be a man; put on your makeup." So we always have a little fun with those groups. And you mentioned Celia from -- what organization is that? >> Dave: VSA. >> Gene: VSA Texas, yeah, a statewide group -- actually I guess a nationwide group, but Celia's the head of the Texas program, and she's helping out Gene and Dave Show quite a bit. >> Dave: That's right; VSA is one of our sponsors, so we definitely have to mention them. >> Celia: And I do want to give a shout out to the Gene and Dave Show. Not only are they on Cable Access here in town but they have a Web site called thegeneanddaveshow.com. And they work very hard to caption everything that they have, and they were the first cable access show here in town to put captioning onto their show. They worked really hard to find things. >> Bravo! >> Celia: So shout out to Gene and Dave. >> Dave: They do all the arts, video, as well as a lot of visual things. They have an art gallery, where they have paintings that were done by people with many different types of disabilities. >> Gene: Yeah, April does a great job on putting that gallery together, and of course, Lynn helps organize the film fest that VSA does. Then Knowbility -- Knowbility's working on a program called Sight, Sound and Soul. And you did an excellent video for these folks. That was really your time to shine. [ Music ] >> Gene: You did an excellent job on that video. >> Dave: It featured Desiree, who really was the star of that show. She was showing off all the things that she uses in her daily life to be able to actually see her computer screen. Desiree is blind, but she uses a lot of different devices to be able to hear what's on the screen and also feel what's on the screen with her Braille keyboard. >> Gene: Really she's got a refreshable Braille keyboard, and she's just amazing. And then when she's listening to e-mails, whatever, she's running them at super-fast speed. I don't know how she does it, but yeah, we had some folks describing why they need the arts accessible, so that was a great video you did for those folks. >> Dave: And Desiree also uses her iPhone on a daily basis, and all the accessibility that's tied into the iPhone, just by buying it off the shelf is amazing. >> Gene: Now, we also have Forklift Danceworks here in Texas. Allison helped us do some choreography >> Dave: She did, for one of the actual live shows. And that has went on to spawn workshops and classes for people that are both disabled and not disabled; people that want to work together with disabilities to dance. >> Gene: And you know the great thing, Dave is when we were doing our research for this show, we realized that the people here in Texas really think big. Allison was thinking big with some of her -- the Trash Works program she did with all the city workers and the dump trucks out on the airport, doing choreography for them. But yeah, just everything she does, she thinks big. And of course, Celia does her work statewide. Sharron Rush with Knowbility started that program. Then we've got Imagine Arts. Debbie Kizer sets up for folks with disabilities. We've got it all going on. The Coalition of Texans with Disabilities h as a film fest, and the CTD is run by Dennis Borel and Dennis likes to think big. Back in 2003 he set up the Everest Expedition, where he took ten folks with disabilities to Everest Base Camp. So the people here love to think big. >> Dave: We're still waiting on that moon voyage, though. >> Gene: Hopefully that's coming up. >> Dave: We sent that to Dennis a couple of years ago, and we're still waiting. I'm sure that he's still working on it daily to get us to the moon. Let's show that clip of us on the moon and our pitch to Dennis on how to get us there. >> "Kudos go out to Dennis Borel of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities. Dennis, a few years ago you sent people to Mt. Everest. Well, this time how about sending them to the moon? Here's one wheelie for Dennis." >> "And one, a giant donut for CTD. We're ready to go, Dennis. Send us to the moon!" >> Gene:; And of course, that was down in our Channel Austin TV studio. >> Dave: Right, right. >> Gene: Which is accessible, so yeah, we were able to take part in Channel Austin because of their accessibility features and policies and such. Outdoor recreation? Did somebody say outdoor recreation, Dave? You know I love it, and Austin is the place for it. I mean, just going down to the lake, the lakeside trails. We had a great time doing some filming down there when you went kayaking. >> Dave: That's right. >> Gene: You look like you had a good time. I'm still waiting for proof that you actually did any paddling. >> Dave: Oh, it's there. There's a picture. It's on the Web site. >> Gene: And you took your son, Denver, out on the lake as well, and I'm surprised your wife hasn't killed you for this, but took him right up close to the big old snapping turtle-- >> Dave: Yes. >> Gene: The alligator snapping turtle? >> Dave: Which he wanted to bring home and keep for a pet. >> Gene: Boy, that was the granddaddy of all turtles there. >> Dave: I think he wanted to ride it home, actually. So yeah, that's a big turtle. >> Gene: So we have all the hike and bike trails right along the lake that you could go along. Kayaking, as Dave is showing you here. >> Dave: It's another refreshing day on the lake. Meet you back later, Gene. [ Background sounds ] >> Gene: We also have access to Zilker Park. In terms of recreation in general, we've got the Eels on Wheels program which is a scuba diving program for people with disabilities. >> Gene: Look at that clear, blue water. Isn't that something, huh? Beautiful sight. All the folks who are done before us. Davin is taking me down slowly, checking me from time to time, make sure I'm not signaling that I need to clear my ears. If I did, he would assist me with that. Oh, there's some fish there, huh? Oh, and there's a Divasaurus. I believe that's Jill waiting for us. She's going to be another dive buddy. Davin is pretty in tune with what I like to see, whether it be caves or swim through or just coral walls. >> Gene: In fact, they're one of the reasons I moved here as well. We've got the Wheelchair Fitness Center. We did a program on that previously. Let's also mention wheelchair basketball; we've got that going on in Austin, and bowling. They even have the rails up along the gutters so -- and the devices to put the ball on to bowl, if that's the way you choose to bowl. So we've got all that recreation here. The recreation alone should be enough to draw people here to Austin. >> Dave: That's right. Lots of good times. >> Gene: Speaking of good times, do you have any ideas about entertainment in Austin, Dave? >> Dave: Well, that's what Austin's known for, Gene, is its live music. I mean, what better place or where else do you go but Austin, Texas to check out the live music and down on 6th Street. >> Dave: You never know what you're going to see on 6th Street. [ Background sounds ] >> Gene: Yeah, 6th Street is a great place. All the bars and various venues having live music, all around the downtown area it seems. You should be able to roll to some place for some live music. Also, at SXSW , the music there, the parties, the after parties. We were fortunate enough to interview the group that did that movie, "For Once in my Life." They had a great band. [ Music ] >> Dave: And a good party. >> Gene: And a good party. We enjoyed that. We enjoy the restaurants here in Austin. One of our favorites is the Mekong River on 6th Street, and Max is always there to welcome us in. >> Dave: That's right. We like Max. >> Dave: So when you're here in Austin, you're downtown, you're going down 6th Street -- everybody raves about all the music in Austin and the bars and the places to go, but one of our places by far is the Mekong Restaurant right on 6th Street. They've got the best Vietnamese and Thai cuisine well, in Texas, as far as we know. So a great place to eat, so come by here and get filled up. >> 215 East 6th Street. >> Dave: Max will definitely take care of you. What's a favorite here at the restaurant? What do people order most? >> [Inaudible] chicken is good, Thai food. Actually lots of time lunch tome people come for Vietnamese food and for [inaudible] and we'll be selling our [inaudible]. >> Dave: Taco shrimp? >> Gene: And to drink, what's the favorite drink, Max? >> Iced coffee with condensed milk, [inaudible], and we have Thai iced tea, very good, too. .> Dave: Great, well, thanks, Max. We really appreciate you being here and let's have lunch. >> Gene: Let's do. >> Gene: Great food, great service, and there are other stores along 6th Street and Congress that are all accessible that I'm sure you'll enjoy seeing in downtown. You know, Dave, as great as Austin is on access, we're still working on a few things. The door openers, for example, at the Convention Center, they're handy when they work, and if you can reach them. Sometimes they have a place where I have a hard time reaching them, and sometimes during various events they'll be covered over with posters. But we're working on that to keep it accessible for our visitors here that come to Austin. We really want to shine. >> Dave: And I have to say, Austin is very accessible, and a lot of it is due to the part of a couple of organizations that are here in Austin. We mentioned CTD, or the Coalition for People with Disabilities. They do a great job at making sure that the legislators is on top of accessible rights and making sure that people with disabilities not only in Austin but in all of Texas, are getting the services that they need. And in addition to that, ADAPT here in town, which is a grassroots organization that does all kinds of things to get their point across, including camping out in the Governor's office or handcuffing themselves-- >> Gene: -- to the gates. >> Dave: -- to the gates of the Governor's mansion or wherever else, they really pour their hearts into making sure that accessibility is met, and a lot of the bars in Austin now are accessible because last year to celebrate the ADA's birthday, they went and protested several of the bars in downtown Austin because it's a recreational activity that people want to know about, and 6th Street is one of them that they went to. >> Gene: Yeah, it used to be that the visitor, believe it or not, the Austin Visitor Bureau on 6th Street was not accessible. It was a two-inch lip to get in. It may not seem like much, but I couldn't get in. In fact, we made a film of it and took to City Hall, which is what you'll see here. [ Music ] >> We're outside the Austin Visitor Information Center on 6th Street near Brazos. The Austin Visitor Information Center invites people to find out what Austin has to offer, can invite everyone in except, well, people that are just a little bit different. I tried getting in, but the door sill was just a little bit too high. In fact, a simple 2x4 would have remedied the problem. That would have made an easy access for me and other folks in wheelchairs. I spoke to the management about the situation, but they said they don't have to be accessible, because there is another information center that is accessible. Hmm. I'm not so sure I like that idea. Maybe they just need to change their sign from something like this to something that's a little bit more appropriate like oh, let's say something like this. Or if that's too bold, maybe something a little bit like this. In the immortal words of Curley: >> "If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do succeed." >> Gene: Please, if you know of a business deserving of Access for Dummies recognition, please send an e-mail to Geno@GenosPlace.org. [ Background sounds ] >> Dave: And now it's accessible. >> Gene: Thanks to ADAPT suing them, got a little bit of action going, it's accessible. Yeah, Convention Center, like you said is not perfect, Dave. Sometimes they've got inaccessible trucks in there, like the Panasonic trucks last year. >> Dave: Oh, man. Look at these stairs, Gene. What are we going to do? >> Gene: I'm sure they got an elevator or something, Dave. >> Dave: You got an elevator? >> No, sir. >> Dave: You got a ramp? >> No, sir. >> Dave: How about a lift? >> No, sir. >> Dave: No? I guess we're out of luck, Gene. [ Background sounds ] >> Dave: I guess we're out of luck here in front of the Panasonic Booth at the South by Southwest. I guess Panasonic doesn't want to cater to folks with disabilities. >> Gene: If you're a vendor, if you can be displaying products, please make it accessible. It helps everybody. Well, Dave, now we come to the part of the show that's my favorite part of the show, where we do our top ten list for the Top Ten Accessibility Reasons to Live in Austin. >> Dave: You mean, the part of the show that we stole from another show? >> That would be the one. That would be the one. >> Dave: Okay, so start us off with number ten, Gene. >> Gene: Okay. Number ten. Here in Austin we've got the School for the Blind and the School for the Deaf. And that helps the people in Austin really become more acculturated to folks with disabilities. For example, there's a church right across the School for the Deaf, the Jesus Christ Lutheran Church for the Deaf that has sign language services, and then also I believe the band Blue Mist got their start here in Austin with some folks from School for the Blind. >> Dave: Let's hear you say that one five times fast. >> Gene: I'm not sure I could say it one time fast. So certainly those, the schools, are a big plus for Austin. >> Dave: And the reason I moved to Texas is the weather. The weather is nice here, and really encourages a lot of outdoor friendly use. The snow and ice is not easy to get around at any time, but if you use a wheelchair or crutches or a cane, the snow and the ice is just incredibly bad. And Austin very rarely gets that, if ever, so the weather is the number nine reason to move to Austin. >> Gene: Yeah. In Cleveland, I couldn't even get across the street in the winter because of the snow, but here in Austin, no problem. And I've noticed folks' houses you know, maybe have one or two steps in them, unlike up North, where they've got a half a dozen or more steps going in because of the snow. But the architecture here, the weather supports a more accessible architecture here. >> Dave: Yeah, a lot of houses up north have basements and things like that. >> Gene: Yeah. >> Dave: They do require more stairs. There are a lot of homes here in Austin are built just on the slab. >> Gene: And come see Dave's new accessible home, too, when you come to Austin. Now, the number eight reason accessibly reason to live in Austin, is Austin is the hub of accessible web content. And I'm talking about Knowbiity, the great business here in Austin, that works so much on web content, and Sharron Rush wrote a book on it. >> Sharron Rush: So we're going to explore the whole idea of access to rich media for people with disabilities, the empowering nature of it and what barriers remain. >> Gene: We've got a lot of the leaders in accessible web content here, Sharron Rush, Jim Thatcher, Jim Allen, so they have an AIR competition, Accessible Internet Rally every year, where they have competitions. Various companies try to build the most accessible web page. >> Dave: That's right. >> Gene: And I think we know someone that won that, don't we, Dave? >> Dave: Oh, yes, the Gene and Dave Show. >> Gene: Gene and Dave Show, yeah, with Trademark Media, really did a super job setting up our web page, so we won an award for an accessible web page. The number seven reason, Dave, that people want to live here in Austin? >> Dave: Well, of course, is the Austin Cultural Funding program. >> Gene: They help us out with some funding for our program. We're very appreciate of that, but they also give money to VSA and other arts programs. >> Dave: So it's a big reason for a lot of filmmakers to come to Austin, because of the cultural funding that's here. >> Gene: The number six reason to live in Austin, accessibility reason, is the free accessible outdoor swimming pools. You know, Dave, when I was living in South Austin, I would go swimming every week in Big Stacy Pool. They had a lift going into the pool. The pools were open -- the pool was spring-fed with warm water and was open year round. So in the wintertime the lifeguards would be in these big coats, and we would just be in there swimming. So the accessibility outdoor swimming pool is a great reason to live in Austin, >> Dave: And we keep talking about the accessibility in Austin and all the things that you can do and you can get into, and it's really a big part of -- our number five reason to visit Austin is ADAPT. ADAPT of Texas has done so many great things to make sure that not only Austin but that Texas is accessible. >> Gene: Yeah. All of City Hall knows ADAPT, state legislatures know ADAPT. ADAPT has just really, really been a big help. >> Dave: Yeah, and their Texas headquarters is located right here in Austin, so they really seem to get things done. >> Gene: Number four reason, accessibility reason to live in Austin is the Coalition of Texans with Disability headed by Dennis Borel. Dennis keeps us up to date on various legislation that would affect folks with disabilities. They also do a film fest. But Dennis was really instrumental in getting some funding for various programs for folks with disabilities, so the importance of CTD cannot be understated. Also, Dennis likes to think big. He did the Everest Expedition with folks with disabilities a few years back, so got great, great program.; >> Dave: Are you ready for number three, Gene? >> Gene: I'm ready for number three. >> Dave: It's definitely the public transportation that's here in Austin. Whether you want to take a taxicab, you want to ride on a bus, you want to go on a train, it's very accessible. >> Gene: And we love to get around. Number two reason to live in Austin, accessible reason is the accessible arts, including VSA Texas, Imagine Art, the CTD Film Fest, VSA also does a film fest, Forklift Danceworks that Allison does, and just great arts programs. >> Dave: Yes. >> Gene: And the number one reason to live in Austin -- Gene and Dave will show you around. And remember folks, everything's bigger in Texas, including Gene and Dave. And ladies, you know what I'm talking about, don't they, Dave? Thanks for joining us. >> Dave: Until next time. Remember, watch the Gene and Dave Show, or tune into your Web site, www.thegeneanddaveshow.com. Check it out, won't you? Bye-bye. [ Background sounds ]