Nonprofit Makes Visiting Chicago More Doable For The Disabled

By Brittany Karlin

CHICAGO (CBS) — Chicago is an exciting city with many things to do. For people with disabilities, visiting Chicago might seem impossible, but a local organization created a resource to make it more doable.

Open Doors Organization (ODO), a nonprofit group, launched almost two decades ago to help disabled people visiting or living in the Windy City.

The organization serves visitors through a website called Easy Access Chicago.

"I think it's an exceptional resource," says Pat Maher, who served on United Airlines Accessibility Travel Advisory Board and worked alongside ODO. "They do a great job researching about accessibility. "

According to the ODO website, the organization was founded "for the purpose of creating a society in which persons with disabilities have the same consumer opportunities as non-disabled persons."

About 4,000 people visit the website in the summer and 1,000 during the winter.

"We are advanced here in Chicago," says ODO Executive Director Eric Lipp. "Chicago is a place where access is taken seriously."