Joshua Williams, local business owner and Georgia Southern University graduate, has defied the odds and created his own company. He consults with businesses to help make them more accessible to people with disabilities. HandiAcc, LLC., was founded in 2022 by Joshua.
He made it his mission in life to aid in bettering the lives of others with disabilities.
Throughout Joshua’s life, he has lived with a disability but never allowed it to get in the way of accomplishing his goals. Joshua experiences the struggles faced when living with a disability daily. He has made it his mission in life to aid in bettering the lives others with disabilities by helping them have a more fulfilling experience when out in their communities.
During his time at Georgia Southern University, Joshua worked as a counselor and a mentor for the Kinesiology Department. His focus was on being an advocate for others with disabilities. It was here that Joshua saw the scope of the hardships faced by individuals with disabilities.
After graduation, Joshua was determined to use his degree to start a career that would match his goals and his passion. Through support with SynergiesWork, a company that believes in raising the bar for individuals with disabilities, Joshua was able to bring his dream to life. His company HandiAcc uses the same principles he was taught by his mentors. He strives to literally “open doors” for disabled individuals across all communities.
What is HandiAcc?
HandiAcc is a family operated business. Together with Joshua, they can offer a wide variety of services. Services are centered around in-person auditing, employee sensitivity training, and social media promotion for their clients. Disabled individuals are at the forefront of everything they do. Joshua and his team work directly with local businesses to improve their practices and drive new customers through their doors.
"HandiAcc is a firm of consultants that go through your business and point out the blind spots for people with disabilities."
Ben Ross
Ben Ross, owner of Forest Heights Pharmacy, is one of HandiAcc’s first clients. I asked Ben how he got started with Joshua.
Ben replied, “I’ve known Joshua for a while, and I was inspired by his story. I told him that when he started his own business, that we wanted to be a client.”
It wasn’t too long after Ben made that statement to Joshua, that he did become a client of HandiAcc.
Ben said, “HandiAcc is a firm of consultants that go through your business and point out the blind spots for people with disabilities.” Ben was surprised to learn that Joshua brought to his attention a lot of things that Forest Heights Pharmacy could improve upon.
I asked Ben how the process was. He said, “Joshua and his team are extremely helpful. After the audit, they made a presentation, and did an employee sensitivity training.” Ben went on to say, “They don’t just show problems. They walk you through how to change them. One of the things that we just corrected was adding yellow tape to the parking lot, to indicate areas for accessible parking for those with disabilities. Another item was trimming back the bushes to make the sidewalk larger. Bushes were something that we thought were okay, but Joshua pointed out at the time that the bushes were coming out over the sidewalk. Trimming the bushes was something very simple that we could do right away that would make a big difference.”
"They don't just show problems. They walk you through how to change them."
Ben Ross
Ben told me that, “HandiAcc will make larger recommendations also, for example: automatic doors.”
Ben asked me to note that HandiAcc doesn’t make the changes, that they make recommendations to the business owners. It is up to the owners to follow through with the changes. For the larger change recommendations, HandiAcc offers resources that help their clients receive tax breaks and benefits if they want to make accessibility measures.
Overall, Ben stated, “This was something that we wanted to do for our business to make it more accessible to disabled customers. Joshua is an expert with what he does. He is very thorough and professional, and he did a great job for us!”
"Joshua is an expert with what he does. He is very thorough and professional, and he did a great job for us!"
Ben Ross
A dream come true
In a Facebook Post from Joshua in August, he said, “Today was a monumental day for my company! We received payment for our first completed job with Forest Heights Pharmacy! We are very proud of the partnership we have with this great business, and that our work could benefit them and their efforts towards becoming even more accessible!”
Joshua went further to say, “This feels like a dream come true and is a day full of emotion. I have put in years of work and seeing my company receive its first payday is hard to put into words. We are just getting started, but this will be a day that we will always remember.”
How HandiAcc can serve your business
When you visit the HandiAcc Facebook Page, it is very informational, and Joshua provides links to a variety of resources about making accessibility possible for any business or organization. One of the resources I found on the page was a link to the Disability Forum and an article about how accessibility benefits your business.
If you are interested in hiring HandiAcc, LLC., please contact Joshua directly by visiting his website: www.handiacc.com. You will find his phone number, hours of operation, and his email address. You can also follow Joshua and HandiAcc on Facebook.
Joshua and his team of professionals want to bring about awareness of accessibility for disabled individuals, as well as initiate change that will make a difference.
Congratulations to HandiAcc on the opening of your business! You are destined to make a difference in a lot of lives through the work that you do!