ADA: Enabling Americans (Part 2) Whether it involves ramps, doors, elevators, bathrooms or ATMs, the Americans with Disabilities Act is changing the face of America for all people. Yet, for some, like Jennifer McPhail, things haven’t changed enough.

McPhail has used a wheelchair all her life. Spend an afternoon with her, and the challenges of getting around are evident. Two people had to push her up a Capital Metro bus ramp because her chair got stuck between the ramp and the curb. Then on Congress Avenue, a two-inch gap in the sidewalk became an impossible canyon for her wheels to hurdle over. She had to cross the street and continue on the other side.

"It's not uncommon for people to have to, you know, if you need access to a sidewalk or there's a gap in the sidewalk, to have to get out into oncoming traffic," McPhail said.

Former University of Texas architecture professor Jim Susman would require students to spend a day in a wheelchair to fully experience the importance of adequate design for all people.

"So much of the practice of what we do as architects is put ourselves in the shoes of somebody else to understand that perspective," he said.

That perspective is guiding Susman through his latest design project at the Austin Children's Museum. The museum had to move its main entrance after a city construction project blocked the ADA accessible ramp on the sidewalk.

"Within 24 hours, we had to switch the entry to make that ADA compliant," Susman said.

Susman doesn't mind the extra work required by the law, he said, and businesses usually don't complain about the relatively minor cost.

"We've seen everybody embrace it," Susman said. "Everybody knows it's the right thing."

The right thing, though, does come at a bigger price for the City of Austin. Updating all existing sidewalks to meet ADA standards would cost $120 million, according to a 2009 report.

Dolores Gonzalez has been the city's ADA coordinator since the law went into effect in 1992.

"We thought we would be done in 20 years, but we're not done," she said. "The city is growing, and so our responsibilities increase."

The city put in 194 curb ramps and 35,000 feet of sidewalks last year, Gonzalez said, and that commitment to the ADA has earned it several national awards.

"For the size of our city, for the aggressiveness of our implementation, for the fact that we have a very vocal disability community, that's always saying we need to do better, we're up there," Gonzalez said.

Other Central Texas communities are making similar efforts. A playscape in Temple's Lions Park is a shining jewel of ADA accessibility. The City of Temple built the playscape this spring with $150,000, much of it donated by the community. Ken Cicora, with Temple's Parks and Leisure Services, led the project.

"It's truly a playground that fits the whole community," he said. "For example, grandparents who may be wheelchair bound, and kids who are totally able, they can come out here, get along real easy with their kids."

Other cities have already called, wanting to follow Temple's example, Cicora said. It's something Becky Schulke, the mother of two able-bodied children, said she was proud of.

"This is probably the most creative and safe park we've been to," she said. "Just knowing that anybody can come and enjoy, that's very nice."