TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Hearing

Belgium Destination Launches Plate-like Brochures for Deaf and Blind Visitors

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Our Takeaway: This groundbreaking technology enables blind or deaf visitors to access videos with professional level audio descriptions and sign language interpreters that can be accessed by hovering the phone over a QR code on each page. Attendees at The Emerging Markets Summit in Savannah will be able to feel and touch the actual English language versions of these books as well as the meet the developer, Alain Cloet founder of Picture Live, in person.  

The city of Ghent has launched a hardbound tourist itinerary book for hearing and visually impaired visitors, as reported by Belgian news outlet VRT. The campaign includes special booklets which contain tactile pictures of seven attractions in the historic center of Ghent, along with an audio description that people can listen to via their cell phones. There is also a version with sign language.

“It is a booklet with plates of seven Ghent sights you can touch,” Alain Cloet, who came up with the idea, told VRT. “Tactile plates are photos covered with a tactile layer. The tactile plates include an audio description that people can listen to using their mobile phones. There is also a version using sign language. A video will appear on your mobile with a sign language interpreter explaining the sight.”

The walks include a QR code to activate audio description and a link to videos in Flemish Sign Language. On the smartphone, visitors can listen to a description or watch a movie in Flemish Sign Language. The designers will continue to develop and refine the product so that it becomes even more accessible and user-friendly. Read More.

INNOVATEABLE Pitch Fest Showcases 11 Cutting Edge Adaptive Innovations for Travel

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Our Takeaway: For the past four years TravelAbility has hosted LaunchPad, a pitch event curating the best innovations that can help the industry make travel easier for disabled travelers. This year’s event has been rebranded as the InnovateAble Showcase and will be held via Zoom on July 26th from 10AM to 1PM PST to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the ADA.

“We are excited to bring together some of the brightest minds in assistive technology to showcase their latest innovations,” said Jake Steinman, Founder of TravelAbility. “This is a B2B event and an opportunity to feature entrepreneurs with innovations that can be introduced through the destination channels to their industry partners.”

This year’s pitch event will be held via Zoom. Those interested in attending should contact us at: info@travelability.net.

NFL Backs Wheelchair Football League Super Bowl

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Before fans flocked to Phoenix for the Super Bowl, the city hosted another major football championship event featuring a different group of hard-hitting players.

The Wheelchair Football League held its second Super Bowl on Tuesday with a match between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams. The league, which was created by the NFL, the Bob Woodruff Foundation and Move United, is made up of athletes with disabilities who compete in wheelchairs, complete with uniforms and helmets of NFL teams. Read More.

Our Takeaway: The NFL has endured years of negative coverage about the perfunctory way they addressed the issue of player concussion injuries. Accessibility initiatives such as this and the half-time ASL halftime show interpretation of Rihanna’s dance (see “A Star is Born” story in this issue) demonstrates the way accessibility can be a boost to an organization’s reputation.  

A Star is Born: Did the ASL Signer Upstage Rihanna at Super Bowl LVII 2023 Halftime Show?

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Sign language interpreter Justina Miles started going viral on social media because of video showing her energetic interpretation of the performance’s lyrics. It’s not her first brush with internet fame. Miles has a popular TikTok account where she interprets popular songs into ASL with the same enthusiasm she put on display at the big game.

According to the National Association of the Deaf, Miles is from Philadelphia and was part of Team USA at the 2021/22 Deaflympics where athletes who are deaf or hard of hearing compete. She won silver as part of the 4×100 women’s track relay team. She has also interpreted for other artists around the country at various concerts, according to the NAD. Other well-known ASL interpreters were also part of the Super Bowl performance, including Troy Kostur. Read More.

Our Takeaway: Many commenters felt that Miles’ performance was physically more imposing than Rihanna’s and a huge breakthrough in awareness for what is possible for deaf interpretive dancers. Kudos to the NFL, which reportedly worked for nearly a year with the National Association of the Deaf to develop three ASL performances.

See Miles’ half-time performance here.

See Miles’ TikTok videos here.

Is there an ASL Sign for Hamachi?

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The type of service a customer receives can either make or break the experience of dining out. One couple who went out to eat at an upscale restaurant in Dallas, Texas found out what it really means to receive top-shelf service with a heaping helping of kindness. Read more.