This thread is getting rather acrimonious, why not try to see both sides
of this argument?  Probably there are/have been situations where
accesibility has become a cause celebre and been over enthusiastically
supported.  At the same time handicapped people have a very legitimate
beef in that they have been ingnored and discriminated against for most of
history.
Could we have a truce here before we are forced to fight the war of 1812
again?  As a European who has lived in both Canada and the US I can say
that neither system is perfect ( suprise, suprise ) and neither is Europe.
 This is not the place to decide and slanderous attacks on people or
nations should not be aired on this list.
Lets either discuss opinions about handicapped access, and how to
implement it, or move on to other things.