DaytonDailyNews.com

Three local organizations have launched a tool aimed at connecting buyers and renters with housing that includes specialized features for the physically disabled.

The Dayton Area Board of Realtors will add detailed accessibility information on properties included in its Multiple Listing Service. The board added this feature in collaboration with the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center and the Access Center for Independent Living.

A form available through the board will allow agents and brokers to inventory a property's accessibility features, such as wheelchair ramps and handrails, and highlight them in a property's multiple listing service entry.

Officials with the local board and the National Association of Realtors say it's the first program of its kind operated by a board of Realtors in the country.

In addition to linking people with the housing, John Zimmerman, a vice president with MVFHC, said the form and the specialized listings also will help real estate agents and builders see what specific features actually make a home accessible.

Zimmerman and Greg Kramer, assistant director of the Access Center, started working on this initiative more than a year ago as they continually saw how hard it was to find homes outfitted with wheelchair ramps and other features.

The form started as a list of 120 items, compiled through brainstorming, research and consultations with architects.

Zimmerman and Kramer winnowed down the list further by consulting with the ultimate end users, people who have physical disabilities and the board approved its use for the MLS system.

DABR president Harry Vearn in a statement said the new initiative shows the board's dedication to fair housing principles.

The number of people with disabilities is expected to grow locally and nationally, due in part to an increase in the number of elderly and wounded veterans, Zimmerman and Kramer said.