Maxwell Ivey, Founder of The Accessibility Advantage, is a blind travel blogger who shares his personal journey, struggles, and triumphs. Known as The Blind Blogger, Max has been educating people about the need for accessibility ever since starting his first website brokering used amusement park & carnival rides in 2007. When he started, web accessibility didn’t exist, so he had to teach himself to code html to get his first site online. 

Maxwell writes, speaks, consults, and hosts a podcast about the many positive benefits of improving accessibility. He has appeared as a guest on several sites, including Huffington Post, The Global Voice, and The Blind Entrepreneur Show. He maintains a positive attitude while teaching others through real experiences. He shares accessibility as more than just compliance: it’s about reputation, innovation, and growth.

👨‍🦯 Accessibility Consultant 

40 Years of Daily Screen Reader Experience 

Helping SMBs Turn Inclusion Into Advantage 

Speaker & Author 

Total followers across platforms: 22,000

Navigating Airport Security While Blind

July 1, 2023 by The Blind Blogger Maxwell Ivey

As many of you who travel are aware, security is a constant concern and there are a variety of methods used by the TSA, Transport Security Administration, to keep us safe.

However, have you ever considered how a blind person navigates these various measures?

I thought I would share some of my experiences with airport security.

And for those of you who know me well, you won’t be surprised that all my experiences with their personnel were positive.

Of course, I show up early and bring my positive attitude with me. I wear comfortable clothes, and leave things like my belt in my suitcase.

Metal Detector

Passing through the metal detector is one case where the procedure is consistent because TSA has discovered what works best and trained their employees to implement this procedure.

What they do is have one agent lead you to the mouth of the walk way where the scanner is. Then an agent on the other side reaches a hand through. You grab on to that hand and walk forward.

I find that if I take really small steps or shuffle that I can make it through the first time without touching the sides.

I’m not competitive about much, but I really hate it if I have to go through more than once.

Chemical Explosives Test

Sometimes, for no reason that I am aware of; I have required an additional screening.

I find that when TSA agents look at me they are concerned about my ability to take my shoes off and put them back on again.

To avoid my having to do that they can use a test that detects whether or not you have recently handled fire arms or explosives.

It’s not a difficult test. They just tell you to hold your hands out while they spray some powder on them.

Then they usually clean it off for you with sanitary wipes or give you some wipes to do it yourself.

This one is the least invasive test they will do as you get to sit there while they do it.

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