TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Accessibility

TravelAbility 2019 Insiders ‘On the Move’ In 2020

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Here’s what our fabulous 2019 attendees and Advisory Board Members have been up to since we last met in San Francisco.
Congratulations to….

Josh Loebner headshot

…Josh Loebner, Director of Strategy for DesignSensory, for partnering with TravelAbility Summit on the launch of a new podcast series, ExplorAble.

upper body shot of John wearing a navy jacket and blue shirt sitting inside a plane smiling, wearing glasses

…John Morris on launching his new Wheelchair Travel podcast series. This is in addition to his weekly reporting on travel issues, accessibility and COVID-19.

...Sylvia Longmire for winning first prize at the Indie Book Awards for her recently released travel guide: Everything You Need to Know About Wheelchair Travel.

headshot of ed Harris with suit and red tie smiling brown hair brown eyes

 …Ed Harris, who was Chief Marketing Officer for Valley Forge CVB when he presented at TAS 2019, on his appointment to President and CEO of Discover Lancaster.

…Julie Jones on her video interview with Tapooz Travel’s Lauren Roffe. 

headshot Cory lee in teeshirt smiling

…Cory Lee Woodard for the launch of a Facebook series of interviews with destinations from Rochester, NY to Tempe, Az, and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

 …Sara Emmert, Director of Tourism Policy for New York’s state tourism office who was among the five New Yorkers that attended TAS 2019, on the launch of their new I LOVE NY accessibility landing page. 

…Kathryn Inglin, TAS attendee and marketing strategy and communications executive for the Presidio Trust in San Francisco, for upgrading their accessibility offerings and becoming the first park in the U.S. to achieve the international Green Flag Award, which recognizes the highest standards of management, maintenance and development in the public parks and green spaces sector around the world.

…Eric Lipp, founder of Open Doors Organization, on the release of their new ODO/Harris Interactive, a study of travel by Americans with disabilities. A summary will debut at virtual TAS 2020. 

…Myron Pincomb, Board Chairman of IBCCES, on the launch of the IBCCES Teletherapy Certification program insuring the individuals and students with special needs have the support they need during the Covid-19 epidemic. 

5 Accessible Design Changes Most DMOs Don’t Think About (but should)

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group of adults some using a wheelchair some using a cane talk in the center of a large lobby

Before writer Brad McCannell explains five architectural changes that work for everyone, he points out his pet peeve. That would be when someone he is meeting with about building accessibility says, ‘I’m already accessible because my building meets code’. His story focuses on making meaningful changes to buildings. Read his full post, here.

OUR TAKE: A few facts to keep in mind when planning accessibility design in the age of concurrent pandemics, wildfires, tornadoes, and murderous hornet invasions. First, you’d best have an emergency plan for everyone, including people with disabilities. (The ADA law doesn’t stipulate that you must.)  Second, implementing a design that’s accessible for all should not only about wheelchair access. Second, according to the Centers for Disease Control, while it’s true that 13.7% of people with disabilities use a wheelchair. It’s on you to think about agility, hearing, vision, and cognition, too. Roughly 30 million Americans said they had difficulty climbing stairs or used a wheelchair, cane, crutches, or walker according to the last nationwide census.

To read more on this topic, visit our archive of disability advocates, here.

MUST WATCH! When Audio Transcription Fails (Hilariously)

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photo: illustration of a keyboard with hands; screen copy says audio transcription with a page, headphone and text icon

You might think that YouTube can capture the exact words from your video. But their transcription tool has more than few loopholes. The only thing funny about it is these two tech guys who show you just how bad audio transcription can bungle your copy. The example here is a Jamaica tour video. Watch it on YouTube, here.  

OUR TAKE: From a marketing point of view, this video makes clear that humor, truthiness, and great information make people sit up and pay attention to your message. Don’t be nervous to even make fun of yourself (and of course fix the problem). After watching it, you’ll really get why creating winning videos requires more than visual storytelling. All the moving parts need to be in place and double-checked before it will make a good impression.

New Ninja Warriors Park is EPIC-ALLY Accessible

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a climbing structure with several kids it I made of steel and wood.

Panama City, Florida is the new home to an accessible playground that’s inspired by the American Ninja Heroes TV show. How inclusive could a ninja park be? Very. There’s a wheelchair-accessible zipline and 30-foot climbing towers. Looking for a challenge? Hat tip to John Morris, the ultimate adventurer, for writing about this on his blog. wheelchairtravel.org. 

Panama City, Florida  is the new home to an accessible playground that’s inspired by the American Ninja Heroes TV show. How inclusive could a ninja park be? Very. THERE’S A wheelchair-accessible zipline and 30-foot climbing towers.Looking for a challenge? Hat tip to John Morris, the ultimate adventurer, for writing about this on his blog. wheelchairtravel.org. 

OUR TAKE: What a great way for parents to give COVID-19 the finger when lockdown ends! Of course, not everyone’s in Florida. If you can imagine one in your area, there are plenty of resources on fundraising, planning and building on accessibleplayground.net. Their motto is every child deserves to play! 

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. 

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