Having contracted Polio when I was 2 yrs old I subsequently spent a lot of time seeing doctors and having operations. During those early years my my parents were told that I would never walk, however with calipers and with shear determination I have led a near 'normal' life for almost 60 years, although I am now confined to a wheelchair and dependant on a plethora of daily drugs.

In 1995 my kidneys started to deteriorate and I was diagnosed as having acute nephritis and then asthma.

After a drawn out series of hip and leg problems I eventually had to give up my business and I was unable to work and this left me isolated, inactive, and very frustrated. I was eventually told I was suffering from Post Polio Syndrome - something that my own doctor knew little about.

I then had to navigate my way through DSS benefits on my own and it proved to be a nightmare. I was being pushed from one department to another and then back again - never getting the same answer twice. This left me very frustrated.

I had been told about organisations and various places to find help but nobody could lay their hands on addresses or phone numbers when I asked for them. During this period of inactivity and frustration it was Nigel who encouraged (nagged) me to surf the internet and I eventually found ways to get information that I wanted.

I discovered that America had an abundance of websites covering every subject under the sun and they had many disability information sites and this led me on an extensive search for UK web sites.

I found a few individual charities with information for their respective focus of disability but there was not a site giving general information applicable to all, or offering the opportinity for the disabled community to network with each other.

This led me to the idea for access-ability and the site first published in 1999.

Now, more than 10 years on and with 15 million visitors to the original website, the internet is swamped with information.

My recent search on google with the word 'disability' had 85,000,500 results - the problem we all have now is 'too much' information.

This re-branded and re-launched website has a fresh mission to 'shrink the on-line universe to fit you' by bringing the latest and most relevant information into one location - and what is even better, is that much of the information is provided by people just like you, so it is current, relevant and all in one place. 

We all need help and the opportunity to communicate our feelings and our needs so please feel free to place this site in your favourites and get in touch with us if you want to contribute in anyway.

I sincerely hope that access-ability goes someway to improving your on-line experience.

Please make a £1 donation and join us as a life-time member.

Alan