TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Accessibility

A Meetings and Events Accessibility Checklist for Planners

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Large number of people seated at an event.

Cornell’s Human Resources department recently developed an accessibility checklist to ensure that meetings and events are accessible to everyone.

The university wrote, “It is our expectation that all meetings and events sponsored by Cornell are accessible to individuals with disabilities. Taking care to create an accessible event benefits not only individuals with visible or known disabilities, but also helps to ensure that all participants/attendees, including individuals with non-obvious disabilities and/or chronic health conditions, and people of all ages and body types, are able to fully engage in the program.”

The checklist is a fantastic resource for meeting planners who are just beginning their journey to be accessible and inclusive, and we recommend that you download this resource from the Cornell website.

Ms. Wheelchair Minnesota Fights for More Accessible Bathrooms

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Linda Hood wearing the Miss Wheelchair Minnesota crown.

Linda Hood, a clinical scientist who has worked at the Olympics since 1984, contracted a rare autoimmune disease — Guillain-Barré syndrome – in 2018, and now uses a wheelchair. Earlier this year, Hood was crowned Ms. Wheelchair Minnesota, and is using her position to advocate for increased accessibility in public bathrooms.

Many wheelchair users, Linda included, require an adult-sized changing table in order to use the bathroom. Few businesses offer such an accommodation, and Linda’s husband Richard Smith strongly supports her advocacy. He said, “I have literally changed Linda on hospital floors, bathroom floors, many airport floors, bathroom floors and many other places, many times and it’s not comfortable,” Smith said.

Hood told CBS that “I just hope that some of the powers that be will hear me and say, ‘I wanna help, I wanna show her when she comes to US Bank Stadium to cheer on the Vikings that look, there’s a bathroom for her.’ And not just for me but for everyone in this situation.”

John Morris, founder of WheelchairTravel.org, has been tracking the installation of adult changing tables in U.S. airports. As of March 2022, only 12 airports offered the accessibility feature, so there is still a great deal of opportunity for airports and businesses to make their bathrooms accessible.

To read more about Linda’s mission, see the news report from CBS Minnesota.

11 of the Most Accessible Advertising Campaigns in 2021

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Deaf Lowes employee with vest that reads, please tap me on the shoulder if you need assistance.

The 2022 Paralympics are fast approaching and, if history is any indication, it’s a period during which brands will fill their advertising campaigns with disabled people and athletes. In an article for Adweek, Shannon Miller asked whether brands would make a lasting commitment to disability-inclusive advertising. Some brands have been on board with that commitment for some time, and the magazine highlighted that with a look at 11 of the most accessible brand campaigns and actions of 2021.

“My consideration of a through-line [between 2021’s most accessible brand initiatives] is a deeper commitment towards the disability inclusion that isn’t just a portrayal of disability in an advertisement in a singular ad,” Josh Loebner, executive director of inclusion and accessibility at Designsensory, tells Adweek. “We did see a lot more advertising with a disability because of the Paralympics this year, but a lot of the brands are making deeper commitments that aren’t simply propped up for that specific sporting opportunity.”

To read about the top accessible advertising campaigns of 2021, check out the article in Adweek.

How to Become a Certified Travel Companion

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Travel companion standing next to an older woman.

Companions are needed more than ever to meet the growing demand for seniors and the disabled who require assistance to make travel possible. Carol Giuliani and Jan Dougherty provide certified travel companion coaching services through their company, Certified Senior TravALZ Companions.

The duo provides detailed training to a variety of professionals to ensure travel companions have the knowledge and skills to assess, plan, and execute travel to meet the unique needs of older adult clients and those with travel challenges.

To learn more about what makes a skilled travel companion, check out the Certified Senior TravALZ Companions website.

A Talking Menu for People with Visual Disabilities Debuts in Mill Valley, CA

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A prototype for a “talking menu” will be unveiled at the Bungalow 44 restaurant in Mill Valley, California. Designed to improve access to the menu for those who are blind or have low vision, it was designed and developed by Chris Lona of CL designs, who presented his concept of a talking website at the 2019 TravelAbility Summit Launch Pad Pitch fest in San Francisco. The talking menu is the first innovation that will be invited to be part of an “incubator” where innovative assistive technology and products will receive mentorship and guidance from a team of investors, prominent travel industry suppliers and professional marketing consultants.

Screenshot of restaurant menu on website with audio files to play the content.

“Since Covid-19 cleanliness protocols were in place during 2020 when many restaurants deployed ‘touchless’ menus by snapping a QR code photo from their smart phone, many diners and restaurants are very familiar with the process,” remarked Jake Steinman, of TravelAbility. “I personally shared this link to this menu to mangers of five restaurants ranging from upscale fine dining to a breakfast and lunch diner who immediately grasped the concept and saw benefits that I hadn’t thought about.” 

The following summarizes the benefits they saw:

  • It provides an alternative to braille menus as 90% of people who are blind don’t read braille.
  • Due to soft dinner lighting, many menus are difficult to read for seniors
  • Talking menu can be accessed from their website to support blind people

Other benefits include availability in four other languages–French, Spanish, Portuguese and German—three different voices and the fact that it communicates a commitment to inclusivity to the local community.

The cost range is between $500-750 for an average menu and $250-400 per additional language.

To see the Talking Menu in action, check out Bungalow 44’s Autumn 2021 menu.

For more information contact: clona@cldesignonline.com