TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Eliana Satkin

Coldplay leads the way in making concerts more enjoyable for deaf fans with Vibrating Vests

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In addition to a crew of signers, the shows in Singapore included handouts of vibrating vests. Will “sound shirts” be next?

Coldplay front man Chris Martin signed two songs, joining a lively team of sign language interpreters at the Singapore concert

A recent commentary in Channel News Asia lauded Coldplay’s January concerts in Singapore “game changing” for their outreach to deaf and hard of hearing fans. The three performances at the National Stadium included a team of very expressive signers including front man Chris Martin, who signed two of the band’s songs. The venue also distributed vibrating vests to allow deaf individuals to feel the beat. 

Read more here.

New Hulu series, created by a woman with autism, lauded for avoiding stereotypes

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Nina and Evie, played by Ashley Storrie and Kat Ronney from a scene in Dinosaur

One of the hardest aspects of living with autism, according to Scottish comedian Ashley Storrie, is “masking”–trying to hide it from everyone else. You would think then that creating and starring in a television series partly based on her life would be terrifying. Instead she found it liberating.

“Being Nina has made me realize that I should just be me and spend less time trying to make everybody feel more comfortable around my weirdness,” says Storrie about the character she plays on Dinosaur.

The title refers to Nina’s infatuation with dinosaurs and her job as a paleontologist, which she loves. But the six-episode series also shows Nina’s struggles to deal with both small and large disruptions to her routines.  is propelled by a major disruption in Nina’s life as the sister she lives with gets engaged and prepares to move out. 

The website “The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism” called the series “excellent” and declared it superior to the “stereotyped-laced” Netflix series Atypical about an autistic adolescent boy. Read an interview with Ashley Storrie on that site. 

UK Tour Operator Secures $11 Million in Bookings for Accessible Florida Program

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By Jake Steinman, CEO and founder, TravelAbility

Jake Steinman and Anna-Marie Janssen of Ocean Holidays pose at an exhibit booth.

The numbers are striking: In less than two years Ocean Holidays of the UK has landed more than $11 million in bookings for its new Accessible Florida promotion. We recently sat down with Anna-Maria Janssen, the product director at Ocean Holidays, for an exclusive interview about the groundbreaking program she spearheaded: The  goal of the  initiative is to ensure that every traveler, regardless of their abilities, can experience the magic of the Sunshine State without any barriers.

Q: Where did the idea for the program come from?

A: We’ve always had clients traveling with us who had special assistance requirements. However, about two years ago, we realized that we weren’t doing justice to these clients. Our business philosophy centers around doing the right thing, and it was time to take action. So we set out to create a program that would cater comprehensively to travelers with special needs. 

Q: What sort of research did you do?

A: We spent over a year researching special assistance travel. We spoke to clients who had faced challenges while traveling. What were their concerns? What obstacles did they encounter? Armed with this knowledge, we delved into finding the right partners—accommodations, activities, and transportation—within Florida. 

Our biggest challenge was the lack of information online, which meant we had to contact each individual supplier to make sure they had the right features and services to accommodate each client.  Most challenging of all, were identifying transportation options for wheelchair users, especially airport transfers.

Q:  Were most of your bookings for clients in wheelchairs or were there other special needs they requested?

A: Most clients request assistance for their actual travel journey (i.e at the airport special pre-booked seats, pre-booked airport support.)

Second to that are preferences for the hotel rooms ( i.e rooms on a specific floor, in a specific location.) They would also like us to inform relevant staff members so that people are more patient and kinder … we also have a fair amount of requests for local equipment rentals and information when it comes to accessibility for local attractions.

Q: Were there any surprises about the types of disabilities your clients had?   

A: I was surprised about the volume of clients with unique and individual requirements including cognitive challenges, but I am afraid we do not store any data about the specific disability. 

Q: It sounds like you are meticulous when it comes to the details.

A:  When you book with us, you can rest assured that your special assistance needs are taken care of as we have a coordinator who triple checks that all the suppliers—including transportation, accommodations, and attractions—have all been confirmed well in advance of the booking and are suitable for the clients’ individual requirements.  Then two weeks prior to departure we review the entire itinerary with the clients so there are no surprises.

Truth be told, when launching a new program not everything is perfect from Day 1. We also had a handful of hiccups after launch but we very quickly took any client feedback on board and adapted the program to get us to where we are today. It’s working relationships and getting feedback, listening, and adapting.

The Launch and Impact

In August 2022, Accessible Florida officially launched. Since then, the program has exceeded expectations:

  • £8.7 million GBP  ($11,021,000)  in holidays to Florida have been booked through the program.
  • 4000 passengers have been booked so far.
  • Over 1000 bookings have been made.

In January 2024, Ocean Holidays was recognized for its efforts in making travel more inclusive by being awarded with the inaugural “Travel for All Award” at the Travel Weekly Globe Awards in London. 

Cyclist with an artificial leg under the caption "Accessibility."

Investing in Excellence

Anna-Maria concludes: “It’s crucial for travel agents and travel providers to not be fearful of accessible bookings. It’s one of the reasons we invested in training our accessibility champions, to ensure they have the skills necessary and confidence to give all customers the best experience possible. We’re thrilled with the success of this program so far,  and will continue to learn and develop the initiative as we help more and more customers book their dream Florida holiday. We are also looking to expand our program into other destinations in the future.”

The Accessible Florida isn’t just a program—it’s a promise. A promise that every traveler, regardless of their abilities, can explore Florida’s beaches, theme parks, and vibrant culture with ease.

From the TravelAbility Summit Archives: Amelia Island

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The 24 Hour Challenge: How Amelia Island created an accessible landing page in one day

Screen shot of a beach scene with the caption, "Amelia Island's Accessible Landing Page."

The gauntlet was first laid down at the TravelAbility Summit in 2022. Jake Steinman told every DMO at the conference that they needed to build an accessible landing page for their website. Yesterday. 

Nate Aron, Partner Relations Manager at Visit Amelia Island told Jake he found the assignment daunting. Too much information, too many ways to make a mistake in conveying information for a number of different disabilities. Jake’s response? “I can show you how to build it in a day. And it’s better to have something up than nothing. I’ll help you.”

And he did. And they did. Nate picks up the story a year later at the 2023 summit. Here’s his 15-minute presentation. 

TravelAbility Trusted: ILA Pro from Translate Live

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Two women on either side of a front desk look at the different screens of the A-frame shaped ILA Pro translation device. Caption: "Someone just needs to step up to ILA, press the button and start speaking.

Translate Live: The ILA Pro merges top-notch software with smart product design

Translation software has made big strides in recent years, thanks in part to AI. Translate Live is setting itself apart from a crowded field of translation services by packaging their software in a very practical format. The ILA Pro features two screens that can be set up back to back in an A-frame that allows two people to have a real-time translated conversation. A perfect accessory for a visitor center, museum, or hotel front desk. The ILA Pro can translate  more than 100 languages including braille and ASL with the ability to connect to human signers. 

Watch the presentation Translate Live’s CEO and founder Peter Hayes submitted for the InnovateAble competition at EMS 2023.

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