Accessibility of Accommodation Facilities for People with Visual Impairments or Deafblindness

AER National Conference Norfolk, VA 2015

Lauren J. Lieberman Ph.D.

The College at Brockport

llieberm@brockport.edu

Introduction• In 2012 an estimated 2.2 percent of people in the

United States reported a visual disability (Nazarovand,

& Lee, 2012)

• The number of travelers with disabilities are increasing

• Tourism providers often feel unprepared to serve

travelers with disabilities due to the lack of information

and training as well as a lack of awareness of new

legislative changes in the industry (Daniels, Rodgers, &

Wiggins, 2005; Packer, Small, & Darcy, 2008).

Introduction continued…

• Studies examining the vacation

experiences of people with VI are not

common in the tourism and disability

area (Richards, Pritchard, & Morgan,

2010; Small, 2014).

Introduction continued…• Yau, McKercher, & Packer (2004) conducted

qualitative research to explore the tourism

experiences of people with disabilities and VI.

– Individuals with VI who travel are taking risks

related to their accessibility accommodations.

– Findings revealed that the process of re-entry

into tourism involved five stages; personal, re-

connection, tourism analysis, physical journey,

and experimentation and reflection.

Introduction Continued…

• Packer, McKercher, & Yau (2007) studied the

factors related to participation in tourism as

perceived by people with mobility impairments

including adults with VI.

– The study showed that personal factors such as

journey acceptance, reintegration and evaluation,

and environmental factors such as attitudes, supports

and services, systems, policies and availability and

accuracy of information were important for them.

Introduction Continued…• Packer, Small, & Darcy (2008) conducted a

qualitative study with individuals with VI

utilizing focus groups and individual interviews

in order to understand travel experiences of

people with VI.

– The results revealed that people with VI had similar

tourist experiences to their sighted peers such as

travel motivation, pleasures, benefits, and

anxieties. On the other hand, travelling was

complex with issues of inclusion or exclusion.

Introduction Continued…• Poria, Reichel, & Brandt (2011) examined

the experiences of tourists who are blind .

– They found that difficulties and barriers linked

to environment and emotions.

– Tourists who are blind struggled with diverse

physical and social difficulties such as

attitudes and behaviors in hotel

accommodations, restaurants, flights and

museums.

Introduction Continued…• Lastly, Small (2015) carried out both a

qualitative and quantitative study with people

with VI as well as for sighted tourists who act

as guides and examined both groups with the

intersection of their mobility.

– Facilitation of mobility allowed both groups to

enjoy some of the rights to citizenship and quality

of life with the constraints of social barriers,

personality, interests and motivation of the sighted

guide or the person with VI

Purpose

• The purpose of this study was to find

out the main functional barriers in

hotels and evaluate the accessibility of

accommodation facilities for people

with VI.

Methods• A survey with Forty-nine functions of

hotel and accommodation facilities such

as a/c, bathrooms, menus were given to

the participants using an interval scale

from 1-7. If they had any experiences less

than a three, they explained each of

them in the comment boxes. Participants

were free to write any other needs and

wants.

Participants

• 37 participant survey forms were

analyzed in several layers by the

researchers

• 23 males and 14 females

• 29 were visually impaired or blind and

eight were deafblind

Data AnalysisAfter transcription, the authors independently coded each

transcription for the identification of data patterns or themes.

This was accomplished by separating the data into smaller

pieces of meaningful information then labeling the smaller set

with a qualitative description or code. Afterward, a code list

was created. The next layer of analysis identified relationships

between themes to better understand the data and to develop

categories. Next, the code list was analyzed and collapsed into

larger themes and subthemes. Lastly, the results of this

survey were compiled to create a checklist that was reviewed

by six experts who are blind in order to establish validity.

Results

• Entrance spaces

• Lobby

• Rooms

• Other services

Entrances Spaces• Lighting

– many facilities do not have adequate lighting i to accommodate

individuals who are VI. Lighting is usually very low in hallways,

restaurants, sitting areas, even in the room.

Lighting is often difficult if I am working with an ASL interpreter,

because if we dim lights for a presentation, I can't see the

interpreter. If I use CART, then it's often hard to find an outlet or

connect to wireless networks.

• Color contrast

– participants were frustrated with the colors and contrast.

A new hotel always requires some orientation. Glass doors hard to see,

and odd echoes from things like fountains can make it hard to orient or see

Also, carpets are usually dark with busy patterns. This makes is difficult to

find things if I drop them on the floor

Carpets

Entrance Spaces continued

• Signage

– Findings suggest that participants were

disappointed with the amount and placement of

any signs with or without Braille. Some of the

relevant quotes are as follows:

Signage is often a problem in hotels because as a

totally blind person, you don't know where it is.

Concerning elevators in some hotels and facilities there

has not been Braille on some of them. Also there is not

always a standard place for the height where the Braille

should be put on each floor level.

Signs

Entrance Spaces continued…• Front desk

– Another subtheme was the front desk and lobby. This is the first

area that an individual experiences when they enter a hotel

facility.

– I am Deafblind. No hotel provides telephone, personnel, or other

types of things for a Deafblind person to access alone or even

with sighted help.

The lady at the desk asks the person behind me “can she sign her

name?”

There is no navigational signage in Braille, no tactile maps.

Every hotel has a different number to reach the desk for questions.

Rooms

• Key cards

• Bathrooms

• Electronics

• Guide dogs

Keycards

Rooms• Keycards

– Many hotels currently use small credit card type keys. These are

generally plain with no recognizable markings. Many participants

felt that this was a barrier to entering their rooms as well as

recreation amenities. The quotes to this subtheme are below:

Every hotel but one had no idea how to mark the key card for

a blind person.

One thing you do not have on your list, or at least I did not find

it, are the cards to open up your room doors at hotels. Most of

them are not accessible unless a lot of blind people have been

there before and the staff has been trained to put tape on the

end that goes into the slot on the door.

Rooms• Bathrooms

– This includes placement of towels, lack of distinguishable features on

shampoo and conditioner, and lack of explanation of faucets. The quotes

to this are as follows:

Sometimes the towels are hiding. I never know which is the

shampoo or conditioner, so I have to use one or the other first to

find out which is the shampoo or conditioner.

I have been all over the country from five star to two star hotels and

this is uniform. Shampoos, hand creams are not marked in Braille.

Many phones have extra buttons and without having either sighted

assistance or instructions in Braille it is hard to determine what

those buttons are used for.

Rooms• Electronics

– Many people with VI relied on electronic devices for information,

communication and safety. The issue of barriers to electronics was a

large one and one that made people very angry as can be seen by the

following quotes:

I have to depend on a sighted person to show me the equipment, and

I have to adapt a way for me to use it. The TV remote is always a

challenge. I'm afraid to mess with it too much for fear of getting on

some movie that I will have to pay extra for. I try to remember to

have the Bellman show me how to use the TV remote.

Alarms are often difficult to set, particularly for a person with sight

limitations.

For the outlets, I have had a couple of places where the outlets are

located in what

Outlets

Rooms• Guide dogs

– These issues were regarding lack of an appropriate place to put their dogs

when sitting in the hotel.

Let’s not forget as well the “demand I pay a pet deposit.” I have a guide

dog, he is not a pet. “Mam all pet parents have to pay a pet deposit. “may

I speak with your manager, please. Manager comes out. “she says she

doesn’t have to pay a pet deposit for her dog.” My dog is a guide dog and

not a pet. “huff, and she walks away. The manager usually understands

and takes me to my room apologizing the entire time.

Those who use service dogs may not have appropriate accommodations

provided such as relief area, and many tables are in a fixed position so

that there is no room for dog to lay underneath….same as for chairs to put

the dog underneath part-way.

I usually need to find a dog relieving area and have difficulty, and at cafes

and restaurants, I usually need a booth or somewhere I can tuck my

service dog away so she does not get stepped on.

Other services

• Restaurants

• Recreation facilities

Other services• Restaurants

– The need for Braille menus was a constant in many participants’

experiences. This lack of Braille menus left many adults who were typically

independent to rely on their colleagues or family with sight.

I'd need a good bit of help getting around the hotel and finding the

restaurant. Restaurants often don't have Braille menus, and I haven't

come to expect that they would as only10 % of the blind population can

read Braille.  Most blind people have some vision and struggle to read

menus with magnification equipment.  Again, I must

ask a server for help in selecting what I want. I think the only eating

we'll do is a breakfast buffet with all you can eat. 

Also, words on menus, room service door hanger things, bills, hotel

services book, microwave, phone etc are usually very small and

therefore very difficult to read.

Other services• Recreation Facilities

– In addition to having a hard time opening the entrance doors of recreation

areas with the key cards, there were some other relevant barriers to

recreation amenities.

Every time you use the gym you have to use your card, which doesn't

work unless the card is somehow marked tactually so that it can be

placed correctly in the card recognizer.

I obviously can't read signage for directions in and around hotels and

must rely on a sighted guide for helping me around the hotel, i.e.,

taking me to the

swimming pool.

Fitness: Instructions not in Braille or large print.

Signs for the fitness room may be in Braille, but without running hands

over walls or doors, you don't locate it.

Fitness Center

Fitness Center

Entrances to Fitness Facilities

Discussion• According to the participants, barriers were identified in three

main areas:, entrance spaces, rooms, and other services

• One thing was clear that people with VI wanted more

information on every part of the facilities. They have a VI and

they still have other senses. Braille, written, or auditory

information about electrical devices, menus and activities can

be helpful. Hotels and restaurants need to make some

modifications with menus and other printed information in

Braille (Baker, Stephens, & Hill, 2002). Large print, color and

the contrast walls, menus, halls, rooms and others are also

important for people with VI.

Discussion

• Signs and signage are other issues for people

with VI. Key cards and shampoos do not have

any signage in most of the hotels. These can be

fixed by the tactile markings. Glass doors can

be designed with contrast colors such as

mullions in order to provide safety issues.

Sockets should be standard height according to

ADA (2010) regulations.

Discussion

The American College of Sports

Medicine has designated specific

guidelines to ensure fitness facilities are

accessible to all participants regardless

of ability or disability (ACSM Facility

Standards and Guidelines, 2012, pg.

170)

Discussion• Training of staff and employees about the guests

with disabilities is important to solve many

problems. If a front desk clerk wants a signature

from a guest with VI it may be difficult. In the

context of accessibility, some hotel managers

and owners did not appear to recognize any

ethical responsibility to go beyond the provision

of standards and regulations in their facilities.

But this cannot be generalized for all facilities.

Discussion• As participants stated, people with VI generally

cannot find any additional space for their service

dogs. Guide dogs tend to be misunderstood by those

in the tourism industry, as they do not have

experience with trained animals who provide service

to individuals with disabilities. They require space to

sit and/or lie at the owner’s feet and need areas for

their toileting (Packer, Small, & Darcy, 2008; Small,

Darcy, & Packer, 2012). It is not reasonable to take

additional money for the service dogs as pets.

Implications

• Checklist was created for hotel

owners to follow to accommodate

people with visual impairments or

deafblindness

Checklist

• Entrance spaces and lobby

• Rooms

• Other services