Permanent Secretary of Health Kevin Monkman and senior building inspector Blake Lambert deserve credit for taking up the challenge to attempt to make their way around Hamilton in wheelchairs on Friday.

But they would no doubt be the first to admit that the day they spent was nothing compared to the lifetimes of access trouble that many of the Island's disabled must live with.

Still, actually physically experiencing the challenges that many of Hamilton's stores, streets, restaurants and businesses present to people in wheelchairs must do some good in making the City and the Island more accessible.

It is to be hoped that the experience will prove to be as salutary to them as it was to late Mayor of Hamilton Cecil Dismont, who did the same thing some years ago and then proceeded to improve public access around City Hall, kerbs and other areas owned by the Corporation of Hamilton.

The greater challenge is improving access to privately owned buildings and businesses.

One of the most striking things about Royal Gazette reporter Sarah Titterton's story in Saturday's newspaper was the difficulties the pair had in getting access to areas that the able-bodied would naively assume would not pose a problem.

Anyone can see that people in wheelchairs will be permanently barred from a second floor restaurant without an elevator.

But stores and restaurants without steps and on a ground floor can pose nearly as much of a problem if the doors can only be opened manually, or if they are not wide enough for the chair.

Even ground floor restaurants with three or four steps can pose a problem, as Mr. Monkman and Mr. Lambert discovered.

Kerbs without any form of ramp may are impassable for a person in a wheelchair, assuming there is no one around to help. Store aisles turn into obstacle courses if a packing box is left on the side. Gentle corners turn into Corkscrew Hill. Phone booths that are more than four feet off the ground provide frustration, not communication.

The greatest challenge lies with the owners of private businesses and so on, who will, with some reason, balk at the costs associated with installing elevators and the like.

Older buildings in particular may be seen as almost impossible to change, with different floor levels, narrow staircases and the like.

But business owners may be ignoring a compelling business reason to make the change. Five percent of Bermuda's population reported having a life-affecting disability of some kind in the Census. Not all of those people are in wheelchairs, of course, but the number helps to demonstrate how many people face access problems of some kind.

Just as importantly, tourists with disabilities constitute a tremendous potential market for the Island. Through the Internet, specialist publications and informal networks, they are very well informed. If a destination is not accessible, they will not go; who knows how many people Bermuda is missing out on as a result of access problems here.

Still, Government, advised by people like Mr. Monkman, Mr. Lambert and National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged head Dr. Melvin Dickinson, remains the most powerful change agent.

Mr. Monkman said on Friday that he had learned "how small a change can make such a big change".

In many cases, small changes can also make a big difference. Installing automatic doors instead of swinging doors or adding wheelchair ramps to kerbs will make a huge difference.

Improving access to the disabled usually is a requirement for any new commercial or public building, but this should be expanded to include renovations too. In the meantime, Government could really demonstrate its commitment to the issue by installing an elevator in the Sessions House so that people in wheelchairs, and those who have difficulty with stairs can actually enter the House of Assembly with ease.