I started Accessible With Design with a simple question: Why are cars designed around driving, but not around getting into them? For someone who uses a mobility scooter, features most car reviews barely mention can determine whether a vehicle creates independence or another obstacle: seat height, transfer difficulty, door opening, scooter storage, hand-control compatibility, fatigue-reducing technology, automated parking and driver assistance. That led me to build WAVI — the World Accessible Vehicle Index. Today is very much a beta launch. We have 48 criteria, 20 U.S.-market vehicles in the database, an evidence and confidence system, and our first vehicles under active research. You'll notice that WAVI refuses to display an overall score when the evidence isn't sufficient. That's intentional. I would rather show “insufficient data” than invent certainty. I'd especially love feedback from disabled drivers, wheelchair and mobility-scooter users, caregivers, occupational therapists, mobility-equipment professionals, automakers and anyone who has ever discovered that a supposedly great car simply doesn't work for their body. What is the one vehicle feature you wish automakers understood mattered to you?

WAVI — Accessible Vehicle Index

Find the vehicle that gives you more independence.

Find the vehicle that gives you more independence.