TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

John Morris

National Park Service Produces Film Series to Showcase Accessibility at Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

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Tourist standing at foot of giant tree in Sequoia National Park.

The National Park Service has produced 6 films to highlight accessibility at the breathtaking Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

On its website, the Park Service states that it hopes the films give disabled visitors “an in-depth tour of selected features and facilities so that you can decide whether a visit, hike, camping trip, or tour are within your reach.

The individual films, each about 3 minutes in length, describe accessibility features such as tours of the Crystal Cave with American Sign Language, tactile exhibits on the Grant Tree Trail, wheelchair accessible Sequoia Shuttles, accessible campsites and more.

To learn more about the accessibility at the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and to watch the videos, visit the NPS website.

Explorable Podcast Update: Meet Srin Madipalli

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Srin Madipalli seated in his wheelchair.

Srin Madipalli originally studied to be a research scientist focusing on genetics, before training as a corporate lawyer. After discovering he didn’t want to go into law, he went back to school and received an MBA from Oxford.

Srin taught himself how to code and in 2015 founded Accomable, an accessible travel web application bridging significant digital gaps that often frustrated and hindered disabled travelers when searching online for accessible accommodations. Airbnb acquired Accomable in 2017 and Srin is now an independent investor, disability advocate and he continues to work on new ventures and ideas.

He recently joined Explorable Podcast hosts Josh Loebner, disability advocate and Director of Strategy at marketing agency Designsensory and Toby Willis, Sr Product Manager at Expedia Group. To listen to the episode, visit the Explorable website.

27 California Hotels Sign Agreement to Improve Guest Room Accessibility

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Two twin beds in a hotel room.

In a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, it was announced that agreements had been reached with 27 hotels in Southern California following investigations into their accessibility and ADA compliance.

According to the press release, hotels agreed to remedy ADA violations pertaining to the accessibility of hotel rooms, while others “also agreed to relief that includes adding additional accessible rooms and communication features for persons with disabilities, ensuring that booking websites provide sufficient information about accessible features, and the payment of civil penalties.” A number of the properties, which had been found to be charging more for accessible guest rooms, agreed to halt the practice.

To read the full text of the Department of Justice press release and to see a list of the hotels involved, visit the DOJ press site.

18 Presenters Lead the Line-Up for Virtual TravelAbility event coming June 24th

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Travelability summit logo

The next TravelAbility Summit virtual event is coming June 24th, and the action-packed schedule is filled with presenters you won’t want to miss!

AGENDA

SUBJECT TO CHANGE

(i)=INVITED BUT NOT CONFIRMED

                                                              JUNE 24, 2021

8:00-8:15 am — OPENING REMARKS

8:15-8:35 am — UPDATE: GOOGLE MAPS: ADDING AN “ACCESSIBLE ROUTE” TO GOOGLE MAPS IN SIX CITIES COULD BE A GAME CHANGER.

Could this be the breakthrough disabled travelers and city dwellers have been pining for?

Presenter: Laura Allan, Head of Strategy for Accessibility and Inclusion,  Google (i)

8:35-8:45 am — UPDATE: CRUISING FOR A BRUISING: WHEN WILL CRUISE LINES’ PAIN WANE AND WHAT WILL THE RECOVERY LOOK LIKE ?

Cruise lines have been the hardest hit of all travel segments during Covid.

  • What new post-vaccination protocols are planned
  • What will it mean for domestic cruise ports that depend on shore excursions
  • How are they planning to bring back customers
  • What are they hearing from their agents? How are they communicating progress to their disability specialist travel agents.

Presenter: Ron Pettit, Director Disability and Inclusion, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

8:45-9:05 am — UPDATE: AIRLINES. BACK TO THE FUTURE?

  • When does the industry foresee travel returning to pre-Covid levels?
  • What progress has been made on a Common Pass among the vaccinated?
  • From LaunchPad: SATS: Centralized register for Verified Service Animals

9:05-9:20am — UPDATE; AIRPORTS

  • How are airports reacting to the aging population?
  • Partnering with destinations to promote accessibility.
  • From LaunchPad: JAWS by Vispero, making airport/airline kiosks accessible to blind and visually impaired

Moderator: Eric Lipp, CEO, Open Doors Organization; Panelists: Dana Folsom, Manager, Disability Progams, Delta Air Lines (i); Tim Joniec, Director, Customer Relations, Houston Airport System

9:30-9:50 am — UPDATE: HOTELS. WILL MARRIOTT’S “ROOM FOR ALL” PROGRAM  INFLUENCE THE FUTURE OF ROOM DESIGN?

How they plan to upgrade bed height in accessible rooms of their 5500 U.S. hotels.

From LaunchPad: Travegali: Hotel booking engine with images of accessible sleeping rooms and bathrooms of 4000 hotels. 

Presenter: Zach Curry, V.P. Rooms and Guest Services, Marriott (i)

9:50-10:05 am — UPDATE: ATTRACTIONS. HOW WALT DISNEY WORLD’S FOCUSED ON CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR ALL (VERSUS COMPLIANCE)… to make the Happiest Place on Earth the most inclusive as well.

Presenter: Mark Jones, Manager, Accessibility and Services for Guests with Disabilities, Walt Disney World

10:05-10:25 am — BREAK

10:25-11:00 am — UPDATE: TRAVEL AGENTS & BLOGGERS. HOW THREE DISABILITY SPECIALISTS OUTLIVED COVID.

In what will go down in history as the worst year ever for travel agents—especially those serving people with disabilities—leading travel agents and bloggers discuss their coping strategies.

Panelists: Debra Kerper, Owner, Easy Access Travel; John Sage, President, Wheelchair Travel Solutions; John Morris, WheelchairTravel.org; Nicole Thibault, Magical Story Book Travels (i)

11:00-11:30 am — HOW WE MEASURE ROI FOR ACCESSIBILITY.  A panel of European travel companies and tourism boards reveal the metrics that matter to them and their stakeholders.

Panelists: Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director, European Network for Accessible Travel; Olaf Schleiper, Innovations Manager, German National Tourism Board (i).

11:30-11:50 AM — ADDING ACCESSIBILITY INTO YOUR EDI PROGRAM.

Where does accessibility fit into your existing EDI program?

  • Why should you add accessibility to your EDI strategy. 
  • What are benefits and measurable outcomes of adding accessibility to your EDI strategy. 
  • Recognizing where accessibility and diversity intersect from a customer service training perspective, and the ways in which to incorporate accessibility into your marketing campaign

Presenters: Nicole King Smith, Lee County CVB

11:50-12:10 PM — NO COST/LOW COST BABY STEPS THAT YOU CAN TAKE TO ACCESSIBILITY

Getting started with accessibility shouldn’t be an expensive or daunting task.

  • Getting started: three things you need to know
  • Baby steps you can take that can save you time and money

Presenters: Josh Loebner, Director of Strategy, DesignSensory; Toby Willis, Technical Manager and head of accessibility, Expedia Group.

12:10-12:30 — TRAVELABILITY BUILDS A BUSINESS CASE TO SWAY A HOTEL CFO TO BUDGET FOR ACCESSIBILITY. WILL IT WORK? 

TravelAbility will present a slide deck, stitched together from key stats drawn from the four most prominent research reports released in the past six months, to a Chief Financial Officer. Will she buy it?

  • Open Doors Organization/Harris Poll 2020 Market Study: Adults with Disabilities: Travel and Hospitality
  • Expedia/Leonard Cheshire Report: Breaking Down Barriers for Travel
  • AARP: 2021 Travel Trends 
  • Stylus Media Group: Tourism’s Accessible Future

I Love (Accessible) New York! A Model of What a State Landing Page for Disabled Travelers Should Be

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New York City skyline seen from pedestrian walkway on bridge.

Expanding access to accessible travel information and resources is one of the TravelAbility Summit’s key objectives, and many destinations are already providing excellent content through their websites’ accessible travel landing pages.

I Love NY’s Accessible New York page is one such example, with a sortable database of accessible activities and businesses throughout the state. Whether a person is traveling to the Adirondacks or the Greater Niagara Falls Region, the database contains a list of accessible attractions and provides basic information about the accessibility of various features, including accessible entrances, bathrooms, and more.

The page also includes trip ideas for visitors who are autistic or have developmental disabilities, people who are blind or have low vision, and those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

OUR TAKE: I Love NY, working with the consulting division of Open Doors Organization, has done the important work of creating a page to welcome disabled travelers to New York. The database contains space for many more accessible activities, and we look forward to seeing this resource expanded to include many more of the great things to do in the State of New York!