TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Eliana Satkin

Accessible Hunting? South Dakota Just Put It on the Map.

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Hunter in blaze orange using a wheelchair in an autumn forest, holding a shotgun.

We’ve learned where to look for accessible hotels: match your needs through Wheel the World’s booking platform.

We can find short term rentals using things like BecomingrentABLE or filters through Airbnb.

We can even build loose travel itineraries based on the experiences of other disabled travelers.

But what if we’re looking for something a little more niche? What if we wanted to continue our annual hunting trip with our buddies, after a major spinal cord injury?

Accessible travel information doesn’t have to start with your biggest attractions. It can start with the things people already come to your destination to do.

That’s where we tend to hit a roadblock.

Not in South Dakota.

South Dakota’s Game, Fish & Parks website has a page dedicated to Accessible Hunting Areas, opening the gate to opportunities that feel impossible to find.

The state has identified specific Game Production Areas where hunters with a disabled hunter permit can use all-terrain vehicles or other vehicles on designated roads and trails. Some locations have accessible hunting blinds. Others have designated trails that provide vehicle access to areas where hunters can pursue deer, pheasant, turkey, waterfowl and other game.

DMO’s should pay attention. Not only is this website easy information on accessible outdoor adventures for visitors, it’s also an example of what an accessibility landing page could look like, detailing locations and what to expect. There are caveats, and South Dakota is upfront about them. The areas are unattended, terrain varies, not every portion of a Game Production Area will be accessible, and hunters are responsible for determining whether conditions are safe for them. That transparency is what makes this page so useful.

Accessible travel information doesn’t have to start with your biggest attractions. It can start with the things people already come to your destination to do.

Hunt. Fish. Camp. Golf. Birdwatch. Paddle. Attend a rodeo. Visit a shooting range. Go stargazing. Cheer for a local sports team.

Somewhere in your destination, there may already be accessible infrastructure, adaptive programs, special permits or designated access that travelers simply don’t know exists.

This is an opportunity where you don’t have to create something new. Find what already exists, document it clearly, and make sure the people who need it can find it.

↪Check out the website.

Practical Hacks from the Accessibility Playbook: Marketing to and Through Influencers and Content Creators

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Six branded Accessibility Playbook covers from TravelAbility, covering destinations, restaurants, meetings, accommodations, airports, and attractions.

The Accessibility Playbook is a practical guide providing strategies and tools destinations need to align partners, inspire action, and create more seamless, welcoming experiences for all. One of the features new to the 2026 Playbook is access to the Content Creator Community.

MARKETING TO AND THROUGH INFLUENCERS AND CONTENT CREATORS

Research continues to demonstrate the value of working with creators with disabilities. According to Nielsen InfluenceScope, content creators with disabilities generate 21.4% higher average media value and 20.5% more interactions than creators without disabilities. For travelers with disabilities, these creators offer authentic, relatable perspectives that help build trust and confidence. For travel brands, partnering with creators with disabilities is an effective way to build trust, expand reach, showcase authentic experiences, and increase engagement across multiple market segments.

TravelAbility has been growing their Content Creator Community. In just over a year, TravelAbility has built a one-of-a-kind directory of 608 disability content creators, representing a combined audience of more than 206 million followers. 

CreatorsInstagramFacebookYoutubeLinkedInTikTokTotal Followers
60854M26M42M1M83M206M

This growing network gives destinations and travel brands access to authentic voices that can help reach travelers with disabilities and their companions. These trusted creators represent a wide range of lived experiences, helping destinations build authentic campaigns that resonate with travelers with disabilities and their companions. Here’s an example of potential creators for partnerships.

The Valentine Brothers smiling outdoors, with one brother giving the other a piggyback ride on a grassy hill.

The Valentine Brothers

Instagram: valentinebrothers

Disability: ND

Followers: 11M

Shane Burcaw smiling cheek to cheek with his wife, Hannah, in a close-up selfie.

Shane Burcaw

Instagram: shaneburcaw

Disability: MOB

Followers: 5M

Anthony Ferraro, wearing a cap and a tie-dye shirt, sits on a driftwood log on a beach with his arms stretched wide and the ocean behind him.

Anthony Ferraro

Instagram: asfvision

Disability: B/LV

Followers: 3.8M

Amy Tarpein, with long brown hair and a blue blazer, sits indoors in front of abstract wall art.

Amy Tarpein 

Instagram: elijahsbabybucketlist

Disability: CD

Followers: 500K + 2.8M Blog Following

You can find many more in the 2026 Accessibility Playbook, the most comprehensive yet, featuring six all-new, in-depth sector guides for industry-specific stakeholders. 

One for the Books: Life on the Bridge: Linking My World to Yours as an Autistic Therapist

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Cover of "Life on the Bridge" by Kaelynn Partlow, with the author smiling against a pink background.

Understanding autism can feel a little like trying to communicate across two different languages. The words may be the same, but the meaning does not always land the way either person intended.

Kaelynn Partlow is trying to change that.

An autistic therapist, advocate, and cast member on Love on the Spectrum, Partlow brings both professional expertise and lived experience to Life on the Bridge: Linking My World to Yours as an Autistic Therapist. The result is a practical, personal guide designed to help autistic people, families, therapists, educators, and other professionals better understand one another.

The book starts with a premise that feels especially important in disability advocacy, and that TravelAbility continuously amplifies: listen to autistic people themselves.

Partlow tackles the questions that often create confusion between autistic individuals and the people around them, from communication and sensory differences to meltdowns, stimming, masking, perseveration, loneliness, and accommodations. Rather than treating these experiences as behaviors to simply correct, she pulls from her expertise and lived experiences to explain what may be happening underneath them and offer concrete ways to communicate more effectively.

“Listen to autistic people themselves.”

Kaelynn Partlow

Partlow’s perspective is particularly valuable for parents and professionals who may know a great deal about autism but are still learning what it feels like to experience the world as an autistic person. Partlow’s position on both sides of that divide gives her a unique way to explain where misunderstandings happen, why certain approaches can miss the mark, and how a little more understanding can change the interaction entirely.

Life on the Bridge is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, with the audiobook narrated by Partlow herself.

For anyone looking for a better way to understand autism, this is one for the books.

Innovation of the Month: SignGlasses Brings Sign Language and Captions Into View

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Through SignGlasses smart glasses, a smiling woman is in view with a sign language interpreter appearing in the corner of the lens.

“If I could just put on glasses and everything was there, captions, interpreting, all of it, that would change everything,” says Dr. Ashley Walker, a Deaf pharmacist, educator, and advocate.

Thanks to SignGlasses, that dream is a little closer.

SignGlasses combines smart glasses with live sign language interpreting, captioning, and pre-recorded media, placing communication access directly in the user’s field of vision. Instead of looking down at a phone, tablet, or screen, a Deaf or hard-of-hearing visitor can see interpretation or captions overlaid on the environment around them.

From an Exhibit Tour to a New Approach to Access

Founded in 2017 at Brigham Young University, SignGlasses emerged from the challenges faced by Deaf individuals during an exhibit tour. Since then, feedback from the Deaf community has driven the pursuit to create a smarter solution that enhances communication access for all. 

The result is a system designed around a simple idea: accessibility should be available where the experience is happening, rather than requiring the visitor to interrupt that experience to access it.

That distinction can be particularly important in museums, attractions, theaters, and other environments where guests are constantly looking around, moving between exhibits, or watching a presentation.

How SignGlasses Works

SignGlasses’ patented technology connects smart glasses to its platform of professional interpreters and captioners.

With the glasses, users can receive live ASL interpretation or captions while continuing to look at their surroundings. The glasses are lightweight and portable, can accommodate prescription lenses, and can stream live interpretation. Pre-recorded media can also be stored on the device and synchronized with an experience without requiring Wi-Fi.

The platform supports two-way communication, allowing Deaf users to sign back and forth with an interpreter, who can also voice for the user when needed.

The Problem It Solves

For venues, providing an interpreter isn’t always as simple as having one available when a guest arrives. Traditional arrangements may require advance scheduling, and interpreters aren’t always available on short notice.

SignGlasses offers a simpler option.

A museum, attraction, theater, or visitor experience can provide smart glasses that allow guests to access interpretation or captions as they move through the experience. 

Options for Destinations

Pricing is customized according to an organization’s needs, and SignGlasses does not currently publish a standard price for its smart-glasses packages or services. 

Reach out to SignGlasses for more information or learn more on their website.

Fora’s First Accessible Travel Report Finds Accessibility is Driving Demand

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A report drawing on a survey of 1,359 Fora advisors and a nationally representative survey of 2,592 U.S. consumers turned up staggering results confirming that accessible travel is not niche, travelers are willing to pay more to have accessibility needs met, and that the lack of accessibility information is still the main barrier making or breaking a trip.

More than half of consumers (55%) planning a multigenerational trip in the next three years say someone in their group will need an accessibility accommodation, whether it’s a wheelchair ramp, a walker-friendly itinerary, a gluten-free menu, or an autism-friendly kids’ camp. Of those families, 78% say they’d pay more to make sure those needs are properly met.

“Accessible travel is not niche, travelers are willing to pay more to have accessibility needs met, and that the lack of accessibility information is still the main barrier making or breaking a trip.”

Advisors are already living this shift. Two-thirds (67%) have booked a trip for a client with an accessibility need, and 18% of those say such trips now make up more than a quarter of their business. These aren’t small bookings, either: 44% of advisors say their largest accessible booking in the past year topped $10,000.

“In my own business, I’ve more than doubled my sales this year, driven by multigenerational trips,” says Karen Morales, Accessibility Program Lead at Fora. “This is a growing, important segment, and it requires a personal touch.”

Bar chart titled "Travelers have a wide range of access needs." Limited walking endurance or stamina is highest at 48%, and service animal is lowest at 7%. Source: Fora.

Multigenerational travel groups are driving the demand, but the senior population isn’t the only group requiring accommodations. Out of those needing accommodations, “more than one in three (36%) say a parent or another adult (age 18 to 64) in their group would need an accommodation, and almost one in four (23%) say a child or teenager would.”

The need is high, and the gap is wide. Surveys showed gaping chasms between what’s advertised as accessible and what truly is. Examples included overlooked steps and bathrooms that couldn’t fit a wheelchair.

How will you meet the growing demand and fill the gap to welcome all?

↪ Read the full article
↪ See the survey results

The TravelAbility Summit takes a deep dive into the accessibility gap and how to fill it. Attendees will leave with practical information that can be implemented immediately to initiate real change and meet real needs. Register here.

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