TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Accessibility

Indian Café Reopens Following an “Accessibility Makeover”

by

Coffee beans, ground coffee and a completed drink.

The Downtown Café, a popular dining establishment in Patna, Bihar, India, is set to reopen following an “accessibility makeover.” Café owner Astik Kumar was encouraged to make the improvements after he witnessed a physically disabled family member struggle to get inside.

Among the accessibility features installed were an accessible toilet, a ramp to enter the building and wheelchairs available to customers who need them. Braille menu cards have also been printed for visually impaired customers, and there are plans to invest further in making the space more accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

On speaking about his goals, Asik said that “my aim is to make The Downtown Cafe inclusive in every sense of the word.” He said he would like to see smaller cities like Patna adopt greater sensitivity to the needs of disabled people, like that exhibited in larger cities such as Delhi and Mumbai

To read more about the café’s incredible transformation, click here.

The Top 10 Most Accessible Ad Campaigns of 2020

by

Blank billboard in the sky.

In 2020, the disability community celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In recognition of that milestone, many brands placed renewed focus on accessibility in marketing to reach disabled customers, a group that accounts for nearly 1 in 4 Americans.

In building a list of 10 accessible and inclusive ad campaigns that debuted in 2020, Adweek spoke to TravelAbility Summit Advisory Board member Josh Loebner.

Among the campaigns listed were Microsoft’s Surface tablet commercial, which features a family using American Sign Language, and a Visit Florida commercial, which contained footage of a person using a beach wheelchair.

In speaking about the Visit Florida campaign, Loebner said “it shows that people with a disability just like any other minority group, are part of that the fabric of our culture.” He continued, “People with disabilities are not segmented and siloed. They’re included with their family, recreating on the beaches in Florida in this commercial spot.”

OUR TAKE: The inclusion of disabled people into mass market advertising campaigns is a critical component of an inclusive and welcoming society, but it is also an important business strategy. Campaigns featuring disabled talent appeal to the disability community, which has now become too large a part of the U.S. population to ignore.

To see the rest of the 10 inclusive advertising campaigns of 2020, click here.

Visit Reno Tahoe Launches New Accessible Travel Landing Page

by

Visit Reno Tahoe is the latest DMO to unveil a new Accessible Travel Landing Page which shares the message that “adventure knows no bounds.” To celebrate their new accessibility push, Reno Tahoe released the following video:

The video establishes a welcoming tone, and the landing page provides additional information and resources for disabled travelers interested in visiting the region. The page lists accessible attractions, parks, trails and ski resorts, as well as information on accessible transportation providers and medical equipment rentals.

OUR TAKE: Visit Reno Tahoe has responded to TravelAbility’s call to lay out a virtual welcome mat for disabled visitors, and their new Accessible Travel Landing Page is an excellent first step towards an inclusive marketing strategy!

To take a look at Reno Tahoe’s new landing page, click here.

After 2,460 years, the Acropolis in Greece is Now Accessible

by

Acropolis hill against a blue sky.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister of Greece, visited the Acropolis of Athens earlier this month to inaugurate a new lift and pathways which bring wheelchair accessibility to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Thanks to these new accessibility features, wheelchair users and others with limited mobility will be able to see the ancient buildings that sit on the top of the hill, most notably the Parthenon. The Prime Minister praised the investment in accessibility, calling it “a project for the whole world.”

OUR TAKE: Modern technology can be integrated into ancient historical sites to enable greater access for everyone. The work done at the Acropolis of Athens has received widespread support and will now make one of the most iconic world heritage sites wheelchair accessible.

To read more, click here.

A “Vente” Breakthrough? Aira Partners with Starbucks to Help Blind Coffee Fans Social Distance

by

Troy Otillio
Troy Otillio

Since presenting during the Launchpad assistive technology pitchfest at last year’s TravelAbility Summit, Aira attracted more users, new partners, greater adoption, and international expansion. According to an interview with CEO Troy Otillio, their user base has nearly doubled since Covid due largely to word of mouth and new partnerships such as the one they’ve just announced with Starbucks that will help the blind buy coffee while they social distance like everyone else.   

We caught up to Troy recently and had a few questions.

Q: Can you describe Aira in 25 words or less?

A: Aira is an app that connects people who are BLV (blind or low vision) with trained professionals who come in through their smart phone to provide visual assistance. 

Q: What is the new pilot program with Starbucks about?  

The program’s success will be measured in terms of usage and social media engagement. A successful test with Starbucks will increase awareness about the importance of inclusivity and show how creativity and partnership can deliver genuine benefit. Once Starbucks chooses to invest in accessibility, other businesses are likely to think about how they can serve customers with visual disabilities. 

Q: How can the TravelAbility community help you be successful with the Starbucks test?

The TravelAbility Community can help by encouraging friends or acquaintances in the seven test cities (Baltimore, D.C., New York, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Los Angeles) to make just one call to a participating Starbucks location, or post one mention on their social media. This will help Starbucks connect with the larger community of those with unique abilities as well as the organizations that support them.

Q: How did you grow Aira’s user base? 

As our user base continues to grow, so do our online communities. Aira has hosted over 1,000,000 sessions with a positive feedback rating of over 98%. Our international growth has recently expanded into the UK, also often providing service to users located outside of the countries we officially serve. Also, we have established over 75 new partnerships across all industries including but not limited to universities, municipalities, banks, and retail stores and over 50 of our existing partners have entered into second and third year renewals to date.

Q: What is the new “Aira for social distancing” initiative and how will it help at Starbucks?

On a practical note the fact Aira enables Social Distancing as well as simply maintaining a safe distance with other people is appealing to all venues and establishments with foot traffic.    Currently, social distancing markers and instructional signs are purely visual, making it completely inaccessible to those who are blind or have low vision.  One aspect of our Starbucks partnership test will be Aira agents providing specific distance estimates in relation to other individuals in the area as well as any other visual information needed to respect any outlined safety guidelines. As a result, BLV (blind and low vision) individuals can maintain their independence and everyone feels safer.

Q: What part did the “Blind Vine” play in your growth?

The blind and low vision community is highly engaged on Facebook, Whatsapp, Aira Groups, Twitter and other online groups as its hard for them to find specific information they need through conventional sources. 

Q: What progress have you made with the tour and travel segment?

Even with the slow down, conversations with several top 10 hospitality brands and destinations have started picking back up and we plan to announce some new destinations once those organizations are ready to move forward. Retail has been quicker to adopt as Aira is easy to deploy, effective, and garners media attention: something we are waiting for destination and tour organizations to experience. 

Q: Can you cite examples of best practices within the travel industry?

Our largest growth has been in museums as we support both on-site experiences unique to each visitor as well as online/virtual experiences. We attribute this to the attention gained by some of our early adopters such as the Shedd Aquarium, Smithsonian, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Museum of Science Boston, Space Center Houston along with other cities such as City of Minneapolis, City of Houston, City of Miami Beach.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Your name and email will never be sold to third parties.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Your name and email will never be sold to 3rd parties.