No one knows how many Islanders are living with disabilities. But disparate groups are now coming together in a new advocacy coalition.

Prodded by a superior court judge, the Dukes County commission this week approved funds to restore wheelchair access to the courthouse.

Edgartown selectmen Monday turned down 11 North restaurant’s proposal to make the restaurant wheelchair accessible, with selectmen and town officials saying they didn’t like the plan to use town property for a wheelchair ramp and chastising the restaurant for not dealing with the issue earlier.

There is no access for people with disabilities on the New Bedford passenger ferry Schamonchi, and a Cape Cod advocacy group recently filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation about the problem.

Spokesmen for the Cape Organization for the Rights of the Disabled (CORD) said yesterday they filed the complaint after months of unsuccessful attempts to communicate with the Steamship Authority about the problem.