{"id":63426,"date":"2026-06-27T03:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T01:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.com\/decade-long-accessibility-push-earns-seattle-agent-fair-housing-honor\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T03:00:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T01:00:54","slug":"decade-long-accessibility-push-earns-seattle-agent-fair-housing-honor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.com\/ru\/decade-long-accessibility-push-earns-seattle-agent-fair-housing-honor\/","title":{"rendered":"Decade-long accessibility push earns Seattle agent fair housing honor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A decade after addressing a room full of real estate agents as a motivational speaker, Barry Long is being recognized as a 2026 \u041d\u0430\u0446\u0438\u043e\u043d\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0430\u0441\u0441\u043e\u0446\u0438\u0430\u0446\u0438\u044f \u0440\u0438\u044d\u043b\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0432 (\u041d\u0410\u0420)<\/strong> Fair Housing Champion.<\/p>\n

Home accessibility search standards that Long co-developed are being adopted by multiple listing services (MLS) nationwide \u2014 transforming how homebuyers living with disabilities<\/a> find properties.<\/p>\n

Long, a T5 paraplegic who uses a manual wheelchair, was living in Alaska and working as a fishing guide when a motorcycle crash in the early 1990s changed his life.<\/p>\n

He returned to school, then spent multiple years backpacking around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went out and bungee jumped and skydived and scuba dived and raced wheelchairs and just took the whole wheelchair thing on as an adventure versus a disability,\u201d Long told \u0416\u0438\u043b\u044c\u0435\u041f\u0440\u043e\u0432\u043e\u043b\u043e\u043a\u0430<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That perspective launched a career as a motivational speaker with clients including Boeing,<\/strong> \u041c\u0430\u0439\u043a\u0440\u043e\u0441\u043e\u0444\u0442<\/strong>, Alaska Airlines<\/strong> \u0438 T-Mobile<\/strong>. In 2015, he was hired to speak at a local \u041c\u0435\u0436\u0434\u0443\u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0434\u043d\u0430\u044f \u043d\u0435\u0434\u0432\u0438\u0436\u0438\u043c\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c \u0421\u043e\u0442\u0431\u0438\u0441<\/a> <\/strong>office.<\/p>\n

It was at that event that Long\u2019s challenge cut to the heart of a broken system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Hey, you know what? I\u2019ve been in a wheelchair for 25 years at this point, and there is no way for me to find a home that has accessibility features,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI told them, \u2018There was no way for me to sell a home that has accessibility features. You\u2019re Sotheby\u2019s, so what are you going to do about it?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Executives took him seriously \u2014 and invited him to lunch roughly one month later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, \u2018You know, Barry? You\u2019re right, the system is broken across the country in real estate, there\u2019s no way to capture accessibility, and we don\u2019t know why, because the [Americans with Disabilities Act] passed in 1990, and you might be able to figure it out. You could come help us,’\u201d Long said. \u201cThat was what started this whole thing. It was literally a challenge at a public speaking gig.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, \u0421\u0438\u044d\u0442\u043b<\/a>-\u043e\u0441\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u043d\u0430 Marketplace Sotheby\u2019s International Realty<\/strong> paid for Long to get his real estate license to help fix the system.<\/p>\n

He still maintains his speaking company \u2014 Talk & Roll Enterprises Inc.<\/strong> \u2014 though it now serves as a side venture in relation to real estate work.<\/p>\n

A partnership forms<\/h2>\n

Working as an agent, Long soon connected with Tom Minty<\/strong> \u0438\u0437 John L. Scott Real Estate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Minty had been working on similar accessibility initiatives after struggling to find a home for a client living with muscular dystrophy.<\/p>\n

He and Long discovered they lived just eight minutes apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI called him up and said, \u2018Hey, Tom, you don\u2019t know who I am, but here\u2019s what I\u2019m about ready to take on,\u2019 and he said he\u2019d been wanting to do this for years,\u201d said Long.<\/p>\n

They established Minty\u2019s earlier company \u2014 \u0411\u043b\u0430\u0433\u043e\u043f\u0440\u0438\u044f\u0442\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0441\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0430<\/strong> \u2014 as a formal corporation and partnered with the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS)<\/a>,<\/strong> which opened its dataset to them.<\/p>\n

Long gained new perspective on why accessibility standards<\/a> had been lacking nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a definition for a bedroom, there\u2019s a definition for a bathroom, whether it\u2019s a half-bath or a whole bathroom, three-quarter bath and so on,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s definitions around square footage and about all of these things, but there\u2019s no definition for the word accessibility, because accessibility is relative.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy accessibility in a manual wheelchair is completely different than the accessibility of somebody in a power chair, or a walker, or developmentally disabled, or blind or deaf. The list goes on and on. So, there was no way to actually take a home and say, \u2018This home is accessible,\u2019 because there\u2019s no yes-no answer to that, so everyone was afraid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Searchable standards<\/h2>\n

Long and Minty developed 12 accessibility feature categories \u2014 including approach, entrance, living space, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and home automation.<\/p>\n

Agents can check whether a property has an accessible bathroom without determining who might use it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not trying to guess whether it\u2019s somebody who\u2019s in a wheelchair who\u2019s going to use it,\u201d said Long. \u201cIf there\u2019s a no-lip entry into the shower, that could be used by any number of people. It could be used by a person in a wheelchair, a person in a walker or just a person who doesn\u2019t like stepping over steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

NWMLS adopted the standards and Long said he has since communicated with leaders from \u0420\u0438\u044d\u043b\u0442\u043e\u0440.com<\/strong>, \u0414\u043e\u043c\u0430.com<\/strong> \u0438 \u0417\u0438\u043b\u043b\u043e\u0443<\/strong> on the matter.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Real Estate Standards Organization<\/strong> has also given the criteria its preliminary approval as a national standard, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want somebody in Illinois to be able to search for our house in Seattle and go, \u2018Hey, does it have a three-bed, two-bath\u00a0in this school district, and does it have an accessible approach and accessible entrance?\u2019 That\u2019s the goal,\u201d Long said.<\/p>\n

Training and misconceptions<\/h2>\n

Long and Minty created a 10-hour Association of Real Estate License Law Officials<\/strong>-approved master class leading to the Accessibility Real Estate Specialist, or ARES<\/a>, designation.<\/p>\n

That included turning a barn on Long\u2019s property into a recording studio \u2014 bringing in experts from the disability, architecture and legal fields and creating video-based course material.<\/p>\n

Long says the biggest agent misconceptions that he wants to debunk involve accessible homes being perceived as \u201chospital-esque.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can walk through [modern accessible homes] and you would go, \u2018This is one of the most beautiful houses I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d he said. \u201cYou would have no idea that it\u2019s absolutely 100% accessible for somebody in a power wheelchair.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fight this old school stereotype that if a house has a ramp, then it\u2019s going to be devalued, because all those people not looking for a handicapped house aren\u2019t going to look at that house, and we found that\u2019s not the case at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aging in place, industry impact<\/h2>\n

Long sees accessibility upgrades as a value-add, especially as more than 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 daily. He and Minty met with appraisers to advocate for recognizing accessibility in property valuations \u2014 also noting a local 55-and-over community where every home had two steps to enter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccessibility is a value-add to properties that are now being sold,\u201d Long said. \u201cThe hope is that builders start seeing that and add the accessibility just to the inherent design of their architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Able Environments has also created a nonprofit to help other MLSs adopt the standards without financial barriers. The \u0412\u0438\u0440\u0434\u0436\u0438\u043d\u0438\u044f<\/strong> has expressed interest in implementing the system, and Long said he recently met with its deputy director.<\/p>\n

Standards Long helped create are now positioned to become a national benchmark \u2014 and his recognition as a Fair Housing Champion has given a decade-long effort the ultimate validation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne in four people in this country have some kind of a disability, it\u2019s a known stat,\u201d Long said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a thing for them. Everybody who\u2019s looking for a house can benefit from this information that\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A decade after addressing a room full of real estate agents as a motivational speaker, Barry Long is being recognized as a 2026 National Association of Realtors (NAR) Fair Housing Champion. 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