TravelAbility

By Jake Steinman

Jake Steinman and his safari group smiling for a selfie at sunset, with a golden sky and dry savanna landscape behind them.

Stepping into the African savannah for a recent safari to celebrate my birthday, I expected breathtaking landscapes and incredible wildlife. What I didn’t anticipate was returning with profound clarity regarding our mission and the future of accessible travel.

Observing the natural world offers powerful lessons in survival, growth, and connection. Here are the core insights from the wild that are directly shaping our path forward.

The Power of the Pack

During the trip, I observed over 20 different species in their natural habitats. Despite their vast differences, one common thread was this: they all operated within clustered, tight-knit groups. Whether it was a herd banding together to protect their vulnerable young from predators, or a Pride operating as a synchronized team in pursuit of prey, community was their ultimate mechanism for success.

In the wild, isolation is a vulnerability. Progress relies entirely on the strength, coordination and collaboration of the collective.

Cultivating an Accessibility Ecosystem

A Cape buffalo standing partially hidden in dense green bushes, its large curved horns visible above a dirt clearing.

This natural dynamic perfectly reflects the fundamental purpose of TravelAbility. We are actively building and expanding a robust accessibility ecosystem around destination organizations.

The epiphany that I had was that our purpose is to build a community of DMO “A11Ys”—accessibility advocates and leaders who are committed to scaling accessible travel.

Just as a herd works together to navigate survival, our network functions to overcome industry barriers and advance accessibility with a ripple effect of A11Ys that begins with the destination and scales through hotels, attractions, restaurants and tour companies.

My definition of an “A11Y” has broadened. It now includes anyone who attends an accessibility breakout session at a conference, responds to a survey, signs up for a webinar, or—most effectively—adds an accessibility page to their website. In other words, an A11Y is anyone who has shown an interest in learning more.

TravelAbility Tampa: Our Watering Hole

TravelAbility Tampa 2026 Summit graphic featuring friends, one a wheelchair user, gathered around a waterfront table, with event dates November 9 to 11 in Tampa, Florida.

Every functioning ecosystem requires a central gathering place—a “watering hole” where different groups converge to share resources, expand networks and learn from not only experts but also from each other.

For our community, the upcoming TravelAbility Summit Tampa is that essential watering hole—a place where like-minded A11Ys gather to connect, learn, and plan. There, we can provide the tools, education, and network they need to expand accessibility across their industry partners’ networks.

Reducing Friction: Integrating Accessibility into Existing Workflow

In the wild, survival strategies aren’t optional—they are seamlessly woven into the pack’s daily rhythm. Animals don’t overthink collaboration; it’s instinctive.

A herd of zebras grazing on dry grassland at sunset, with a tree line and pastel sky in the background.

Similarly, to truly advance accessibility, Travelability must eliminate friction by integrating accessible practices into existing departmental workflows. We’ve been exploring how accessibility fits not only into marketing and PR, but also as a competitive edge for convention sales and destination development. By simply highlighting accessible features in existing attractions and museums, destinations can tap into new markets without needing new construction. When an ally integrates accessibility into someone’s current workflow, securing leadership buy-in becomes much easier.

Two lions resting on the grass at night, illuminated by a spotlight or vehicle light.

Overcoming FOMU

While our Summit brings us together like a watering hole, the real work happens when the herd disperses and continues the journey. That’s where Travelability Tampa attendees come in.

One of the biggest barriers to progress is what accessibility advocate Brittany DeJean calls FOMU: Fear of Messing Up. People often hesitate to act out of fear of making a mistake or offending someone, making inaction feel like the safer choice. However, doing nothing doesn’t just stall progress—it steals the opportunity to learn.

The Travelability Summit creates an ongoing, reverberating community. Attendees become allies who, in turn, recruit others across hotels, attractions, and suppliers. Because every destination operates on different budgets and capacities, this network helps members scale their efforts in practical, sustainable ways.

Click here to learn more about Travelability Tampa.

As we look toward 2030—when over 30 million baby boomers will live with a disability, impacting tens of millions of family members—one thing is clear: lasting progress in accessible travel is not just possible, it is inevitable.

July brings together three meaningful milestones: America’s 250th birthday, Disability Pride Month, and the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Each celebrates freedom in its own way, but together they remind us that independence is only meaningful when everyone has the opportunity to experience it.

That spirit of opportunity is exactly what Amy Tarpein of Elijah’s Baby Bucket List discovered during a behind-the-scenes visit to Google’s Accessibility Discovery Center in New York City. Their visit is a hopeful reminder that when we design with disabled people, not just for them, we create a future where more people can experience the freedom to explore.

A Celebration of Possibility at Google’s Accessibility Discovery Center in NYC

Written by Amy Tarpein

Amy Tarpein and Jake from TravelAbility pose with three others, including a young wheelchair user, in front of a large illuminated interactive light wall at Google's Accessibility Discovery Center.

On the first day of Disability Pride Month, our family stepped into a space that felt like the future: Google’s Accessibility Discovery Center (ADC) in New York City. Guided by our friend Sasha, an accessibility engineer at Google, and joined by Jake from TravelAbility, we spent the afternoon inside a living laboratory where inclusive design isn’t an afterthought. It’s the foundation.

Beginning Disability Pride Month with Intention

Before exploring the center, we gathered in Google’s free café, coffee in hand, snacks within reach, around a table, talking about the future of accessibility. That conversation set the tone for the entire visit: thoughtful, intentional, and rooted in community. Starting Disability Pride Month in a place built around innovation felt symbolic, almost like the universe nudging us forward.

A Space Built for Possibility

Walking into the ADC felt like stepping into tomorrow. Every corner held prototypes, tools, and interactive experiences designed to make the world more navigable for people with disabilities. The mini‑humans dove right in, testing features, exploring adaptive tech, and discovering how thoughtful design can reshape everyday life. It is inclusion at its best!

And this work isn’t limited to New York. Google has established Accessibility Discovery Centers in cities all over the world, like London and São Paulo, expanding inclusive innovation across continents. Standing inside the NYC center, it was powerful to know this commitment is global.

What’s at the Center

A 'Hearing' station at Google's Accessibility Discovery Center displays a live speech-to-text demo on a laptop and tablet, with a young person testing the technology at the desk.

The ADC is organized into four main areas, each one designed to spark curiosity, collaboration, and possibility.

Research Lab – equipped to record usability testing sessions, capturing real‑time feedback from people with disabilities so engineers can refine products with lived experience at the center.
Assistive Experiences -featuring accessories that simulate certain impairments and hands‑on demonstrations of assistive tech used in daily life. The kids loved exploring how different tools support different needs.
Workshop Space -a collaborative environment for ideation, reading, and building. It’s where engineers, designers, and community members come together to imagine what accessibility can look like next.
Accessibility Discovery Center Arcade – a favorite for the mini‑humans. They tested game equipment designed for people who cannot use traditional controllers, opening up the opportunity for Elijah and Isaiah to play the dinosaur game together for the very first time.

We explored Braille keyboard options, learned about products designed inside the center, tried out adaptive games, and watched assistive technology come alive in ways that felt both practical and magical.

Innovation Meets Lived Experience

Sasha, a Google accessibility engineer and wheelchair user, gestures while presenting the 'Maps for everyone' display, featuring a laptop showing StreetReaderAI research and a poster on disability statistics, at the Accessibility Discovery Center.

Having Sasha guide us added a depth that can’t be replicated. He didn’t just show us technology, he shared the why behind it. The lived experiences. The feedback loops. The engineering challenges. The victories that come from designing with disabled communities, not just for them.

Jake brought the TravelAbility perspective, and we brought our lived‑experience lens connecting tech innovation to real‑world travel accessibility. Together, we created an afternoon that felt like a masterclass in what inclusive design can look like when passion meets purpose.The mini‑humans even got to mark go to Google on business off the bucket list! We spent the afternoon testing adaptive tech, giving feedback, and helping share ideas to make the center even better and the boys got to play a game together for the very first time!

Two boys play together at the ADC Arcade adaptive gaming station, one of whom is a wheelchair user, testing an accessible game controller.

The Heart of Disability Pride Month

Watching the kids explore, play a game together for the first time, and test new features side‑by‑side, fully included, fully welcomed, was the kind of moment that stays with you. In the photo to the left, Elijah is playing a video game using only his toes, demonstrating how adaptive gaming technology can open the door to experiences that traditional controllers often make impossible. Disability joy, innovation, travel, and community aren’t separate ideas. They’re intertwined. And inside the ADC, that truth was unmistakable.

Gratitude for the Changemakers

We’re deeply grateful to Sasha for opening the doors to this incredible space, and to Jake for continuing to work toward accessibility in travel. Their work, along with the work happening in Google’s Accessibility Discovery Centers worldwide, is shaping a future where families like ours can move through the world with more ease, more dignity, and more joy.

It wasn’t just a tour.

It was a celebration of possibility.