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Access Nashville

Accessibility is good business!

About Us

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Access Nashville is a project of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, managed by Tennessee Disability Pathfinder, and guided by a coalition of volunteer representatives in the business, aging, government, advocacy, and disability fields.

The goal of Access Nashville is to gather information about “accessibility- friendly” restaurants, entertainment attractions, and transportation services so that all customers can make informed choices about where to go in Nashville, Tennessee. This information is linked to the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau website by geographic location and on their “Accessible Nashville” page.

To gather “accessibility-friendly” restaurant information, Access Nashville utilizes college students through a classroom service learning activity. To do this, Access Nashville provides an accessibility training presentation in the classroom and students are required to survey a designated restaurant for a homework assignment (survey tools including a tape measure, standardized survey, and clipboard are provided). Restaurant surveys are completed and an accessibility-friendly rating of Wow, Good, and Limited Access is assigned.

The outcomes of Access Nashville have impacted not only community members with disabilities but also student volunteers  and restaurant owners through an information-sharing process.  Access Nashville educates:

  • Consumers about local area restaurants- Access Nashville provides accessibility-friendly information about restaurants  in the Nashville area so that customers who use wheelchairs and/or have other disabilities can make informed choices.
  • College students about disability and access– As a hands-on service learning project for Vanderbilt University and other local colleges, student volunteers receive disability awareness and accessibility training with hands-on experience in the community through volunteerism and social action.
  • Restaurant managers about disability and access– Many restaurant managers and staff learn about accessibility and gain an  awareness of disability issues through participation.  Access Nashville encourages all restaurants to be accessible and provides special certificates to those restaurants that are “accessibility-friendly.” Access Nashville also offers free training and technical assistance to restaurants receiving a “Limited Access” rating through the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau and      Center for Independent Living of Middle Tennessee, coalition partners.

Although related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, the goal of Access Nashville is focused on gathering accessibility information and does not intend to assess compliance with the accessibility requirements of the ADA. 


Access Nashville is a low-cost, effective project that can be replicated in other cities through partnerships with community groups and local institutions of higher  education. A student training replication manual has been developed and is available at no cost.    For more information, email Carole Moore-Slater {carole.moore-slater@vanderbilt.edu} or phone at 615-875-5085.