Lisa Walters

I'm a disability advocate from St. John's who likes to share my experiences living and travelling in NL as a wheelchair user. I also love providing tips and tools to make our province and our social media platforms more accessible.

A Wheelchair Accessible Tourist Guide – St. John’s & Surrounding Area

Accessible Travel, Accommodations, Entertainment, Public Spaces, Restaurants/Bars/Cafes, Shops, St. John's & Surrounding Areas, Uncategorized / By
A photo of a wheelchair user and her friend watching someone on a unicycle in the pedestrian mall downtown St. John's. On the left there's green colourblocking with text that reads: Wheelchair accessible tourism guide - St. John's and surrounding area.

I’m slowly working my way through a more extensive wheelchair accessible tourism guide for The Avalon Peninsula, and I want to start compiling more info for other parts of the province as well. I’m still compiling places, events, restaurants, museums etc. and I’m relying on followers to share their favourite spots with me. But in the meantime, I thought I should share a more condensed guide for St. John’s and surrounding areas that I have created for the tourists who email me wondering which wheelchair accessible locations I would recommend for anyone visiting our region. This is LONG so I […]

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Accessibility at H.G.R. Mews Community Centre

Public Spaces, St. John's & Surrounding Areas / By
An exterior shot of the H.G.R. Mews building which shows a long row of wheelchair accessible parking spaces next to it.

I was recently invited to the new H.G.R. Mews Community Centre in St. John’s next to Mundy Pond. This new community centre opened last fall and a lot of thought was put into making it a very inclusive space for the city, so I wanted to go there and check out all of the accessibility features they have to offer. I have to say, I was incredibly impressed by the level of inclusion and accessibility throughout the building and surrounding property. Here are the accessibility features at H.G.R. Mews: Jumpstart Inclusive Playground At over 11,000 square feet, this is the

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The 2 Cards You Should Own as a Disabled Person in YYT

Accessibility Advice, Events, Public Spaces, St. John's & Surrounding Areas / By
A light purple background with bold black text at the top that reads: The 2 cards you should own as a disabled person in YYT. Below the text is an illustration of a person sitting in a wheelchair at a computer desk in front of a laptop.

Let’s talk about the 2 important cards that disabled residents of YYT should have in our wallets – the City of St. John’s Attendant Pass and the Easter Seals Access 2 Card. These cards will definitely be helpful to you if you’re disabled and need someone with you when attending events or visiting public places. As a mobility aid user who doesn’t drive and who needs help with a variety of different things throughout my day, especially when away from the safety of my home, these cards have been a game changer for me.  The City of St. John’s Attendant

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Drift Away Suite at Twillingate & Beyond

Accessible Travel, Accommodations, Beyond the Overpass, Uncategorized / By
A photo of the main bedroom of the suite. There's a queen sized bed with a red headboard and a colourful quilt on it, and in the corner you can see a jacuzzi.

Last summer I headed to Twillingate for a little staycation. I was invited by the owner of Twillingate & Beyond to stay in their gorgeous, wheelchair-friendly Drift Away Suite. I had such a wonderful, comfortable two night stay and was able to provide the owners with some accessibility feedback so they could make some small changes to enhance the experience for other wheelchair users. I call this suite wheelchair-friendly because it met most of my access needs as a wheelchair user, but I did recognize some barriers that might exist for other wheelchair users. The suite was nestled in the back

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An Accessible Luxury Picnic in the Park with Newfound Picnics

Public Spaces, Restaurants/Bars/Cafes, St. John's & Surrounding Areas, The Great Outdoors / By
A close up photo of a bright blue picnic table with two cushions on the bench. On top of the table is a white linen tablecloth, two bouquets of flowers, several plates of food and drinks, and fancy dinnerware.

Today my husband and I headed to Bowring Park to have a romantic picnic lunch date hosted by an awesome new local business called Newfound Picnics (which is owned by a very nice couple named Heather and Josh). A few months back, Heather reached out to me asking for some ideas for accessible picnic locations in the St. John’s area. She told me that making her business accessible was very important to her, as she also lives with a disability and wants to ensure everyone is able to enjoy the experience. Side note: I am thrilled to be able to

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Alt Hotel

Accessible Travel, Accommodations, Restaurants/Bars/Cafes, St. John's & Surrounding Areas / By
A photo of the Alt Hotel lobby with lots of very fun, modern couches, chairs and ceiling lights.

Last summer I needed a change of scenery when I was laid up in bed with a really bad back. I decided I would rather spend a night laying in a hotel bed looking out at the harbour, so I headed to Alt Hotel to check it out. I had already heard good things about their accessibility, and the pics I saw online of the lobby and rooms looked so dreamy. I was not disappointed! It was beautiful and cozy, and I had such a relaxing night not very far from home. For anyone interested in going for a (mostly)

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Social Media Accessibility Guide

Accessibility Advice / By
A banner with white background and two red blocks that say “Social Media Accessibility Guide” on one block and “Do your part to make your online content more accessible” on the other.

1. IMAGE DESCRIPTIONS Whenever you post a photo to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram you can add image descriptions so those who are blind or have low vision can be a part of the full conversation. There are 2 ways to do this for each social media platform. Facebook: 1. At the end of the actual post that you are drafting you should make a space and then write out a full image description. This is beneficial to people with low vision that do not use screen readers. Your description would look something like this: Image Description: This is where you

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Creating Accessible Events

Accessibility Advice, Events / By
A white background with coral coloured bold text that says "creating accessible events"

Let’s talk about how you can be a better ally to the disability community when you’re planning public events. ⁣ The first place to start when planning an event should be finding an accessible venue. You should check out the venue in person to see if it’s accessible to your event attendees. Here are some things to keep in mind when checking for accessibility:⁣ – Are there stairs? If so, is there another wheelchair accessible entrance with a ramp or lift?⁣ – Are there automatic doors? If not, can you prop doors open or have someone standing by the door

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Manuels River Trail

Public Spaces, St. John's & Surrounding Areas, The Great Outdoors / By
A view of Manuels River and the surrounding trees from a bridge above it.

Last fall I went on a very fun adventure to Manuels River to try out an all terrain wheelchair that can be booked out from the Manuels River Interpretation Centre and used on their trails. The chair is called the Grit Freedom Chair and has been available at Manuel’s for the last two years thanks to funding from the Community Healthy Living Fund and the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development (Government of NL). Since then it has mainly been used during educational programs as students in wheelchairs often visit with their class and are able to participate in the

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Creating Accessible Accommodations

Accessibility Advice, Accessible Travel, Accommodations / By
A white background with coral bold text that says "creating accessible accommodations"

A message to everyone in the hospitality and tourism industry in NL: One of the hardest parts of planning any vacation when you’re a wheelchair user is actually being able to trust that the place you’re booking your accommodations with is as accessible as it claims to be. A lot of places list themselves as “wheelchair accessible” but upon further investigation there are obvious barriers that would make staying there difficult or impossible. I worry that I’m being misled when I see a place claim to be wheelchair accessible but see no specific details of what makes it accessible, or

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