Many of us think of something entirely different from its intended meaning here when we see “all-inclusive.” Maybe a vacation package that is “all-inclusive” — airfare, hotel, food and beverages included?

For people with physical limitations or disabilities, though, whether it is a wounded warrior or the families of children who use a wheelchair or walker, the phrase “all-inclusive” takes on a much different meaning. It says that facilities and programs are fully accessible, and that those who oversee them have shown the foresight to know that such things are vitally important.

Darlene Walden, a mother of three in Mississippi, hadn't heard of an “all-inclusive” playground when she and her husband took their family to a playground at a state park a few years back, but she knew that her son Gabriel, who uses a wheelchair, could not join his sister and brother because the playground was not fully accessible. That moment of feeling “helpless” and “so alone,” she noted in an interview with GRF Magazine, motivated her family, and inspired a community to build Gabriel's Garden, an all-inclusive playground where children of all abilities can play side by side at all levels.

“There is no reason why anyone should build a new playground that is not all-inclusive,” Walden pointed out.

She is absolutely right, which is why the Department of Justice's (DoJ) new proposed rule under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is so important, and has the potential to make this world a little more inclusive. Over the years, pressure has been put on the DoJ to put out stricter rules under the ADA, to force facilities and programs to meet even the most minimum standards, whether it is a playground, a park trail or a fitness center. The DoJ's Proposed Rule Making for Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services does just that by seeking to adopt enforceable accessibility standards under the ADA of 1990 that are “consistent with the minimum guidelines and requirements issued by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board).”

If this proposed rule is passed into law, it is great news for families such as the Waldens; it also has major ramifications for those who oversee or manage existing play areas, recreation facilities or golf courses. Title II of the ADA applies to state and local government entities, including park and recreation departments, and sets regulations to prevent discrimination in services, programs and activities provided by these entities.

What will this mean for existing recreation facilities or play areas? At the very least, it will force a park, for example, such as the one the Waldens visited, to provide at least one play area that is fully accessible, including the surfacing. New facilities will have no choice but to include accessible facilities and programs — the logical, yet too-long-in-the-making next step for the ADA.

And with an unprecedented number of our servicemembers suffering life-changing injuries in this interminable War on Terror, the need for a more inclusive world is upon us like never before.

We owe it to these wounded warriors and their families, and to families like the Waldens who fought so hard for something that should have been there for them all along:

An all-inclusive world.