TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

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Disabled Travelers Share The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

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The sometimes shocking experiences of real disabled travelers.

At the TravelAbility Summit, disability advocates and travel and hospitality professionals come together to reimagine what inclusive travel can truly look like. The event blends practical workshops, expert panels, and meaningful conversations that empower destinations, brands, and organizations to create more accessible experiences for all.

At last year’s summit, a panel of disabled travelers shared their firsthand experiences—the good, the bad, and the eye-opening. Lived experience remains the most powerful measure of true inclusion. We’re excited to keep the conversation going at our 2025 Summit in Sunriver, Oregon, taking place October 13–15th. Learn more and register today!

Watch the video below and explore the timestamped summary. How does your destination measure up?

At the 2024 TravelAbility Summit: Kristy Durso (TravelAbility, Incredible Memories Travel), Jessica Jordan Ping (The Rolling Explorer), Craig Radford (360 Direct Video), Sassy Wyatt (Blind Girl Adventures), and Talia Salem (Marriott).

Summary

  • Opening with Vulnerability – A wheelchair user shares a deeply personal and emotional experience of inaccessibility in Vancouver’s airport restrooms, transforming a humiliating moment into a story of compassion and advocacy.
    ➤ Restroom Accessibility Issue
  • Fairmont Hotel’s Kindness – The Fairmont Hotel provided sanctuary and dignity, reinforcing the power of empathy in service and influencing future travel recommendations.
    ➤ Fairmont’s Response
  • Denied Experiences on Honeymoon – Jessica recounts being refused full participation in a planned ATV adventure due to assumptions about her limb differences, underscoring the need for autonomy and transparency.
    ➤ Adventure Denied
  • Advocacy for Honest Accessibility Info – The discussion emphasizes how honesty about accessibility levels is more beneficial than misleading claims.
    ➤ Transparency in Accessibility
  • Communication Barriers for Deaf Travelers – Craig details a disappointing hotel and theatre experience where inadequate communication efforts highlighted systemic gaps in serving deaf guests.
    ➤ Lack of Accessibility for Deaf Guests
  • Navigational Struggles for Blind Travelers – Sassy shares multiple challenges at airports and train stations, from forced wheelchair use to being abandoned without communication or support.
    ➤ Travel Disorientation for Blind Travelers
  • Train Access Without Support – Despite being in a wheelchair and having heavy luggage, Sassy was left alone to navigate a train station without announcements or assistance.
    ➤ Abandoned at the Train Station

Insights Based on Numbers

  • While this session is anecdotal, the stories reflect pervasive issues affecting millions, particularly the frequent failures in communication and physical accessibility at transport and hospitality venues.
  • Real-time lived experience remains the most powerful metric for evaluating accessibility.

Hotel Spotlight: Omni Dallas

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A social media follower raved about Omni Dallas as their top pick for an accessible hotel. What made it unforgettable? The stunning rooftop pool and hot tub—both equipped with lifts—plus a spa experience that was not only relaxing but also truly accessible, thanks to an exceptionally helpful staff.

The hotel’s accessible room page also mentions:

  • Accessible guest rooms with entry that provides 32″ of clear width
  • Lowered light switches, peephole, deadbolt, evacuation instructions and closet rods in guest rooms
  • Roll-in shower with adjustable height hand held shower head
  • Toilet and sink are no higher than 34′ from the floor
  • Grab bars near toilet
  • Visual notification for hotel alarm system, door and phone available
  • Audible alarm notification
  • The hotel has a TTY for guest use
  • Closed caption TV
  • Accessible business center entrance
  • Accessible fitness center entrance
  • Accessible restaurant entrance
  • Accessible main entrance
  • Accessible access to front desk and concierge desk
  • Accessible meeting space
  • Assistive listening devices for meetings available
  • Accessible route from public entrance to accessible guest rooms
  • Accessible route from public entrance to front desk
  • Accessible route from public entrance to restaurants
  • Accessible route from public entrance to meeting rooms
  • Accessible elevators
  • Braille elevator
  • Braille room numbers
  • Accessible pool area and pool lift
  • Hot tub lift
  • Accessible parking space for self-parking available
  • Accessible vehicles can be accommodated
  • Service animals allowed for guests with disabilities

Innovation of the Month: Aira

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Aira – Empowering Independence Through Visual and Sign Language Interpretation

Company Background & Mission

Aira (pronounced eye-rah) has been operating for over 10 years, building a reputation as a trusted accessibility partner primarily focused on serving the Blind and Low Vision (BLV) community. The company’s approach to innovation is grounded in co-creation—developing solutions hand-in-hand with the community to ensure services are genuinely aligned with users’ needs and expectations.

Over the years, Aira has built strong partnerships with more than 270 organizations, including national brands such as Target, Wal-Mart, Bank of America, and Starbucks.  Aira also partners with airports, state and local government agencies, higher education and museums across the United States. 

The very core of everything that Aira does is simple: we believe that ACCESS IS A HUMAN RIGHT. 

The very core of everything that Aira does is simple: we believe that ACCESS IS A HUMAN RIGHT.  

The Problem Aira Solves

Every day, individuals who are blind or have low vision face countless barriers when accessing visual information in real time. Whether navigating a busy airport, reviewing printed materials, or managing visual tasks at work, many situations require immediate, human-based visual interpretation that traditional assistive technology can’t provide. Aira bridges this gap by offering on-demand, live human support via a mobile or desktop application.

Recognizing the broader need for inclusive communication, Aira expanded its services in 2024 to include on-demand American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation, furthering its mission of accessibility by also serving the Deaf community.  

Deaf community members face a variety of communication barriers throughout the day.  Oftentimes, all that is needed is a quick connection with an interpreter so that they can communicate freely, without barriers to gain important information in the classroom, in the workplace, while shopping or out enjoying vacation.  

How Aira Works

Through Aira’s mobile or desktop apps, users connect with trained Agents or certified ASL interpreters who provide real-time visual or sign language interpretation. The apps are available for iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows, and can be flexibly deployed through a number of different methods.  Agents assist users by seeing through their device camera, offering descriptions and guidance to complete visual tasks. ASL users can initiate video sessions to connect with interpreters directly from the app, tailored to the meeting type or communication need.

Use Cases for Aira

  • Navigating complex environments like airports or office campuses
  • Reading printed and digital text (e.g., menus, signs, forms, emails)
  • Workplace accommodations and support during meetings or presentations
  • Home tasks such as organizing, labeling, or troubleshooting
  • Real-time communication in ASL for Deaf users during remote or in-person meetings; literally anywhere

Pricing Information

Aira’s services are available through multiple access models:

  • Free Access: Provided by Access Partners such as airports, universities, and businesses who sponsor usage for the public.
  • Subscription Plans: Individuals can purchase plans with a set number of minutes per month, suitable for different levels of personal or professional use.
  • Enterprise and Organizational Licensing: Companies and institutions can offer Aira as a workplace accommodation or customer support tool, with custom integration options.

Around the Web

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Information and inspiration from around the web

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Innovation of the Month

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C.O.O., Vannessa LeBoss, shares the journey, the mission, and the impact of 360 Direct Access.

360 Direct Access offers AI and genuine human solutions to expand services to the deaf, hard of hearing, and signing community

The Origin Story

CEO, Craig Radford, is Deaf himself.  360 Direct Access started as a consulting company in August 2017, with a mission to help businesses improve their accessibility services. We provided expert guidance to companies striving to create more inclusive environments, particularly for individuals with disabilities.

In August 2022, a personal experience highlighted the urgency of our mission. Craig shared, “While at an airport, I needed to change my flight—a simple task for most travelers, yet a frustrating ordeal for me as a Deaf individual. I spent 45 minutes on hold to connect with a third party-relay interpreter and another 45 minutes navigating phone trees and waiting for an English-speaking representative. Despite the long wait, there was a miscommunication in the interpreted session, and when I disconnected and saw my email confirmation, I was booked on the wrong flight.”

This moment was a stark reminder of the systemic barriers that millions of Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals face every day. Whether it’s a phone call to customer service or an in-person interaction, the lack of accessible, efficient, and accurate communication solutions is a widespread issue.

The Solution

Determined to drive change, we launched 360 Direct Video, the first truly equitable customer service solution for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Our goal was to eliminate the delays, errors, and frustrations that come with traditional interpreting services, while providing an equitable communication experience for the millions of deaf customers today.

As we grew, we realized that technology could push accessibility even further. Six months ago, we acquired an AI sign language recognition company, and two months ago, we began integrating avatars to enhance our platform’s capabilities.

To make in-person interactions as seamless as virtual ones, we also partnered with a company to offer on-demand Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) via QR codes. This allows Deaf individuals to instantly access an interpreter with a simple scan—bridging the communication gap in real-time, anywhere.

With these new innovations and verticals, we decided it was time for a rebrand. What started as 360 Direct Video has evolved into 360 Direct Access—a name that truly reflects our broader mission: providing direct, immediate, and equitable access to communication for all.

After two years of dedicated work, we have secured major contracts, with more exciting partnerships on the horizon. The future of accessibility is here, and we are proud to be leading the way.

We provide trained deaf representatives and an innovative video platform with a signing widget that can go on any website page(s), providing a direct native-language customer support experience to deaf customers calling in. To date, ‘solutions’ are sub par and non equitable, where deaf individuals only have the choice to utilize third party relay interpreted calls or online chat conversations completed in English, which is a 2nd or even 3rd language for a large number within the deaf community. Our approach reduces call times by an average of 42%, increases engagement and customers within this community up to 533%, and provides a superior customer experience, while reducing costs for the business/organization.  We’re skipping past the calls wrought with frustration for both the agent and customer, miscommunications, and unnecessary escalations, as well as the associated higher costs.

Uses

Deaf individuals have the same daily communication needs that hearing people do.  Customer service spans Finance, Telecommunications, Government – local, state and federal divisions, Hospitality/Travel, Retail, and more.

For example, we just launched the first bank in the United States to offer Direct Video Calling (press release going out 3/10) so their Deaf customers can have an equitable communication experience when doing any of their banking needs.

Pricing

Our goal is to meet customers where they are.  Small businesses who want to be accessible can have answering services directly in sign language, while medium and large companies can decide between shared and dedicated customer support agents.  Our turnkey solution has both subscription plans starting at $360/month as well as dedicated agents at an hourly rate directly correlated with the type/level of support being provided. 

Check out the INNOVATEAble pitch here.