TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Accessibility

Feedback from 120MM Users Puts Accessibility on Google Maps

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A #localguide checks out the view and amenities.

With the “Accessible Places” feature enabled, business and points of interest with wheelchair-accessible entrances are marked with a wheelchair icon along with information about whether accessible seating, restrooms, and parking are available, according to a Gizmodo story.

OUR TAKE This change shows the power of crowdsourcing. According to Google, the change came about after  Google put out a call for accessibility information contributors in 2017. Since then, 120 million users posted updates on Google Maps regarding the presence of wheelchair-accessible facilities and now they’re not hiding in the ‘about’ section so they’re super easy to find. Plus, it’s a tiny trivia moment for us. One of the companies at our first summit, Wheel the World, was an early supporter of this initiative, which was part of #localguides. 

Free and Easy: The DIY Hotel Accessible Landing Page of the Future

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A screenshot of a hotel website with the words 'hotel accessibility. The photo shows a lobby with large chairs and lots of space and windows.

TravelAbility Insider caught up Pam Wright, COO of Point Hospitality which manages six hotels in California, Arizona, and Utah, including the Holiday Inn Santa Maria, who generously agreed to collaborate with TravelAbility to create a model accessibility landing page. The goal of the page is to help prospective guests with a disability to determine if the hotel meets their specific needs, while also dramatically reducing the likelihood of ADA litigation.  The concept was an Accessibility FAQ page focusing on the hotel entrance, bathroom, and sleeping rooms.  You can see it here.

Q: Tell us a little about your hotel? (number of rooms, target market audience) 
A: We are a 207-room hotel on the Central Coast of California with an outdoor pool, hot tub, fully equipped fitness room, full-service restaurant, and meeting space. Our typical guests range from leisure travelers, wholesale groups, corporate individuals, and group and government (due to our proximity to Vandenberg Air Force Base.)

pam wright, long grey hair glasses and smiling in headshot

“It was very easy to add this section to our accessible page and we feel really good about providing such detailed information so potential guests can be sure our facilities will meet their needs.”

Pam Wright, COO of Point Hospitality

Q: Does the brand’s corporate parent, IHG, have contractual restrictions about individual properties adding accessible room images or content to their website?
 A: We don’t control the Holiday Inn corporate site where we are displayed, but like almost all hotels I know, we have a mirrored “vanity” site to which we refer all direct bookings from our own marketing where we can include more robust information and, since we are generating the booking through our marketing efforts, we are not required to pay a commission.

Q. Would it be helpful for your local DMO to promote your accessible page on their accessible page? 
A: Yes. We would love the direct booking referrals coming to our own website.

Q: What staff member was used to complete the FAQ? 
A: Sales, Engineering, and GM, many of the FAQ’s were easy to answer.

Q. How much time was required? 
A: The FAQ Section took about 2 hours to gather all of the information

Q. What camera was used for photography?
A: An iPhone camera…and I think you’ll agree that photos are quite clear. We wanted to understand the effort, cost, and manpower needed so any hotel can replicate this using any smartphone camera, minimal staff time, and prepare themselves for the 75 million baby boomers who will be aging into disability in the near future.

Again, here’s the landing page. 

More Travel Options! Six Flags Becomes ‘First Family of Autism-Certified Parks’

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schoolage boy and girl in different seats on a ride with big yellow headlights
Photo Courtesy Six Flags

Many of the country’s largest family-friendly attractions have trained staff to be knowledgeable and sensitive to the needs of autistic travelers. Six Flags can now proudly say they are autism certified and in fact, they are the first family of parks to earn the designation. The accomplishment was proudly reported on by their hometown news station. See the full story, here. 

OUR TAKE: What a difference a year makes! More and more attractions are now Autism Certified Centers where a majority of staff are trained to fully interact with visitors and appreciate neurodiversity. They follow a trend TravelAbility Insider saw last year in which everything from marketing agencies to Mall of America adopted the training. 

See our archive of autism-related industry posts, here.

Also have a look at this new post from TravelAge West, titled “More Options for Autism Families”, here.

FAQ: The Top Questions Asked About Hotel Accessibility – Part 1

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very open and light lobby with chairs, table
First impressions matter, particularly in the hospitality business!

Where to start—it’s the question we get when asked about making hotels more accessible. Our suggestion: Start with the very first questions a traveler may have, even before they park their car. Think parking and elevators, signage and ramps.

The 20 questions, below, are adapted from a list on the ADA’s Checklist for Existing Facilities which was created by the New England ADA Center, a project of the Institute for Human-Centered Design.

Don’t stop reading here. Why? Because the intersection of design and hospitality is not nearly as eye-glazing as you might imagine. It gets pretty interesting, especially when you begin to get everyone on the same page when thinking about bigger concepts, such as universal design. Many DMO’s we’ve spoken to said they have created an Accessibility Committee, filling it with representatives from all departments to work across silos.

Accessing the Hotel & The Room

  1. How many accessible parking spaces are available?
  2. How Many Van Accessible Parking Spaces are Available 
  3. Are there any steps to the entrance of the Hotel?
  4. Is there an alternative accessible entrance?
  5. Is there a manual door at the entrance?
  6. How wide is the entry door?
  7. Is there a low counter at reception?
  8. Is there a wheelchair accessible bathroom in the lobby? 
  9. What is the door measurement in the accessible lobby bathroom?
  10. Is there an elevator? If so….
  11. What is the width of the elevator door?
  12. Is there a voice announcement in the elevator?
  13. Are there raised letters/numbers or braille on elevator buttons?
  14. How high is the highest floor button in the elevator?
  15. Are there signs directing people to the accessible entrance?
  16. What is the floor surface in the lobby? If it is carpet how thick is it?
  17. Does the accessible entrance provide direct access to the main floor and lobby 
  18. Are guide dogs and support animals welcome?
  19. IS there level or ramped access to the hotel bar?
  20. IS there level or ramped access to hotel dining areas?

Accessible Hotel Design Doesn’t Have to Be Boring and Unsexy

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A peek at the future of accessible hotel design. courtesy: Hotel Brooklyn

Hotels are challenging pre-existing attitudes towards accessibility in design in 2020 and will focus more on meaningful spaces for modern travelers, according to HotelDesign.net. An exclusive panel discussion at their upcoming U.K. Summit will give delegates an unprecedented insight into the design decisions involved in the creation of a 189-key standard-bearer, Hotel Brooklyn. READ MORE.

Our take: The Hotel Summit’s decision to lead with accessibility at their 2020 conference is spot on. Operational standards will always be the rules to play by, but the industry trend is toward more design and aesthetic freedom than ever before. We are watching the evolution of accessibility, which will become a significant chunk of the market in which 1 billion people are aging into the next stage of life—with the money and interest in traveling. 

Hotel Designs to put ‘accessibility’ under the spotlight at Hotel Summit 2020