Is it? The disabled are part of society, too.

I'm simply pointing out that if you'd like to imagine a world where the ADA doesn't exist perhaps you can help yourself to a $500 plane ticket and say fly to Japan or Europe. I was mainly responding to your hyperbolic statement that the disabled could go to "a restaurant".

You'll find that the disabled have plenty of options, it's definitely not the case that if you don't say enforce wheelchair accessibility for seating areas that there are no restaurants around to accommodate the disabled.

But you do get a lot of hole in the wall places of a type I simply haven't seen in the US, e.g. what would be a very small take-away restaurant in the US, but with a ceiling high enough to have an upstairs floor accessible through some very steep set of stairs to get to a seating area.

That's what I mean by society being poorer for it. It's not a choice between waiving a magic wand to make everything wonderful for the disabled or not. Complying with what amounts to onerous building codes can cost a lot, and often that cost is so high that the establishment isn't viable anymore.

In that same society, disabled individuals must pay $5,000 for a plane ticket, because only one airline will support them and space is at a premium. They are limited to a small handful of chain restaurants which charge three times the prices of your "hole in the wall" restaurants.

I'd much rather live in a society where I pay a small premium (even if that premium is the loss of a few restaurants) so that if my legs give out, I can continue to participate in society; not just a small portion of it.

Accommodating disabilities today is accommodating yourself in the future.

Except that disabled people DON'T have to pay $5,000 for a plane ticket in Europe or Japan.

> I'd much rather live in a society where I pay a small premium

You don't, small businesses do. Plus, there are plenty places in Europe that cater to people in wheelchairs, it's just not mandated for all.

> It's not a choice between waiving a magic wand to make everything wonderful for the disabled or not.

Well, that's not the ADA.

And you're right, I can fly to Japan or Europe. People with disabilities are quite clear on the difference:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1673691

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/traveling-wi...

Which is one reason why, as this article puts it, "The Americans With Disabilities Act Is a Model for the World — Literally"

http://fpif.org/the-americans-with-disabilities-act-is-a-mod...

From the first page you linked to:

    > Dad was looking forward to seeing Pompeii for the
    > first time, and let’s just say it was tough. This
    > is a place not designed for the disabled.

From the second one:

    > Yes, the top of the Eiffel Tower is inaccessible to
    > disabled travelers.

These quotes aren't cherry-picked out of context. Most of these pages are describing the hassle of visiting historic sites.

What do you expect us to do? Bulldoze Pompeii to make it wheelchair accessible?