Museums & Attractions

How the Industry can Make Travel More Inviting to Blind and Low Vision Travelers

April 30, 2025 by Eliana Satkin

Each year, the TravelAbility Summit brings together travel professionals, entrepreneurs, and disability advocates to explore how to make travel more accessible for everyone. Last year’s summit included a panel of blind travelers who shared the challenges they’ve encountered and offered insights on how destinations can eliminate barriers to blind travel.

Check out the panel’s key takeaways below and click the YouTube link to rewatch the session. Want to learn more? Don’t miss the 2025 TravelAbility Summit at Sunriver Resort in Central Oregon, October 13-15, 2025, where you can connect with industry experts and disability advocates dedicated to making travel more inclusive for all.

Summary

🏨 Accessible Hotel Experience: Hilton integrates “Be My Eyes”, allowing blind guests to receive assistance in navigating their rooms and amenities.
🚖 Ride-Share Challenges: Blind travelers face cancellation issues with Uber/Lyft due to guide dogs. Some drivers refuse to pick them up, causing major inconvenience.
🌎 Consistency in Accessibility: Industry experts emphasize the need for standardized Braille signage placement, so blind individuals can easily locate information.
🗺️ Navigation Solutions: GPS apps, breadcrumb tracking, and NaviLens QR codes are proposed to enhance navigation in hotels, parks, and public venues.
🏕️ Accessible Outdoor Travel: Blind hikers prefer better trail markings and audio guidance over excessive infrastructure changes.
🏛️ Inclusive Museums & Attractions: Museums should provide tactile maps, high-contrast signs, and digital audio guides for blind visitors.
🐕 Service Dog Challenges: Despite legal protections, hotels and ride services often misunderstand service dog policies, leading to unnecessary restrictions.
🔊 Elevator Accessibility: Adding audio announcements to elevators improves accessibility, making travel easier for blind and visually impaired guests.
🌍 Advocacy & Industry Standards: Experts encourage travel organizations to advocate for more accessible experiences, including better training for staff and public awareness initiatives.

Insights Based on Numbers

20-40% of guide dog users face rejection from ride-share services due to misinformation or discrimination.
Hilton’s partnership with “Be My Eyes” enables guests to receive real-time visual assistance from trained personnel.
273 Oregon State Parks are working towards better accessibility through improved signage, GPS solutions, and advocacy.

Watch the full session on YouTube!

Around the Web

April 3, 2025 by lkarl

Information and inspiration from around the web

How a Paralyzed Man Moved a Robotic Arm with His Thoughts

This Open Caption Technology Creates a Better Experience for Both Hearing Impaired and Hearing Audiences

Collaborate with Our Designing for Accessibility Project

EpilepSki Returns to Vermont Making Winter Sports Accessible for All

From Accidental Tourist to Adaptive Travel Host

British Airways Launches a Dedicated Customer Service Team for Disabled Passengers

Noble County Spotlights Accessibility Through New Project

‘Making Our Parks More Welcoming and Inviting’: Tennessee State Parks Hires Accessibility Coordinator

Travel and Leisure Shares how Blind Travelers See the World in Ways Beyond the Visual

What if You Could Touch a Sunset?

April 3, 2025 by lkarl

By Ted Tahquechi of Blind Travels

Last year, Blind Travels partnered with Redline Contemporary Art center of Denver and The Andy Warhol Foundation for visual art to develop a process that takes photographs and extracts the luminosity values and textures, then creates a 3d printable tactile print. This is not only great for the blind and low vision community, but has also been well received by the colorblind community and those who are on the autism scale, for their touch and audio features. The project was launched at the National Federation of the Blind national convention last year to rave reviews.

Disabled Art is now working with galleries, museums and even the VA. Their goal is to make art accessible to those who can’t see and to try to shift the mentality for accessible art to one that is considered in the creation of an exhibition rather than as an afterthought. Each piece has the traditionally framed photograph, the tactile (touchable) print, and a plaque with a braille label and tactile scannable QR code. Scanning the QR code gives an audio description of the original photo, then walks the viewer through the features of the tactile print. This gives the viewer all the context they need for what they are feeling, and delivers a true multi sensory experience.

Find out more at https://www.disabledart.com/.