Resources

Organizations

• National Council on Independent Living – Housing Subcommittee
• The Visitability Project at SUNY Buffalo
• Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access
• National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification
• IDEA Center

Testimony

• NCIL Testimony to Congress in Support of the Inclusive Home Design Act

Presentations

• Visitability Train the Trainers Webinar: Presented by Eleanor Smith

Analysis and Reports

• Federal, State, and Town Visitability Laws and Initiatives (Connecticut General Assembly Office of Legislative Research)
• Projections and Implications for Housing A Growing Population: Older Adults 2015-2035 (Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University)
• Increasing Home Access: Designing for Visitability (AARP)

Videos

• Visitability: Lego Birthday Party (YouTube)
• Visitability: Moving (YouTube)

Articles

• Making Homes Visitable: A Guide for Wheelchair Users and Hosts from the Research & Training Center on Independent Living
• AARP Policy Paper on Visitability: A major AARP Research Report, “Increasing home access: Designing for Visitability” (PDF) co-authored by Eleanor Smith of Concrete Change and Jordana Maisel and Ed Steinfeld of the IDEA Center.
• How many houses need to have access features? When universal visitability is proposed, an objection sometimes arises that people with mobility impairments make up only a small percent of the population, and the needs of these few should not impinge on general house construction. Now, the Journal of the American Planning Association has published research demonstrating the high likelihood that a house will have a resident with a long-term, severe mobility impairment at some point during the lifetime of the house itself.

Informative Handouts

You can use the handout below to educate others as you visit legislators, builders, home shows, housing conferences, etc. You may include it in emails, mailing, hand out at meetings, or hang it on message boards.

If you wish, reformat the documents any way you find attractive. And, feel free to add your own name and contact information if you want to organize for visitability in your locale. (Please do not remove, change or add to any of the content without written permission from Concrete Change.)

• 4-Page Concrete Change Brochure (PDF)
• 4-Page Concrete Change Brochure (Word document – coming soon)
• 4-Page Concrete Change Brochure with Improved Accessibility for Visually Impaired Readers (PDF)
• 9 Visitability Myths and Facts (PDF)
• 2-Page Visitability Handout (Word)
• 2-Page Visitability Handout (PDF)

Books and Other

• Libby and the Cape of Visitability: Three children (one a wheelchair user) convince a builder to build all his new homes accessible. Excellent gift for a child, parent, educator, or builder. Available as a paperback or an e-book from Amazon.com.
• Extensive, illustrated Visitability booklet (PDF) written by the IDEA Center