Editorial

OK, time to toot my horn a little, as I just learned that my newest title "101 Accessible Vacations; Travel Ideas for Wheelers and Slow Walkers" won a bronze award for best guidebook at the SATW Western Chapter Meeting. For those of you unfamiliar with SATW, it stands for the Society of American Travel Writers, of which I am a member.

In any case, it's not so much that the book got an award, but that it got a mainstream award. In other words it was competing against other guidebooks, not just disability books.

And that's a big deal, because it means this whole niche has gone mainstream. In the past few months alone I've been mentioned in USA Today and National Geographic Traveler, two very high profile mainstream publications. Like I've always said, the ageing of the Baby Boomers has made access a more important, and more visible issue. And I look for that to continue.

Sure, that's good for me, but it's also good for people seeking accessible travel information. These days they don't have to be connected to specific disability organizations or support groups to get it. They can find out about it by reading their daily paper.

Availability is good. After all, if you can't find the information when you need it, it's of no use to you.

As I was answering an e-mail from a reader, I just had one of those great "aha moments" and realized what strides we have made in access in just 10 years.

I was telling the reader about the "access maps" that cruise ships used to have. The premise was pretty simple - since there were only a few accessible pathways on the ships, the cruise lines made up these access maps so disabled customers could get from point A to point B with a minimum of muss and fuss. They were a pretty low tech solution to a very frustrating problem. But hey, they worked.

But today the access maps are gone - I can't recall the last time I saw one - and that's a very good thing.  Why?  Because  they are building accessible ships these days. We don't need access maps because all of the pathways are accessible. And that's a very good thing.

Now that's progress!

I’m often asked about the progress of accessibility in interviews -- you know the old "how far have we come" question. I have to admit I have a rather canned response to it -- "canned" meaning that it’s pretty much the same thing every time, not that’s it insincere. It’s just that I’ve been asked that same question over and over; and to be honest I pretty much craft my response from my same (unchanging) perspective.

Until today that is, when I read the account of a friend’s Chicago trip. Let’s just call him John. John loves the theater and recently he jumped at the chance to take his family to Chicago to see Wicked and Rent. Seems simple enough, right? Well, John is also a para, and although he’s usually very active, he’s been laid up for the past year with pressure sore issues. Suffice it to say he was more than ready to get out of Dodge!

So he did. And he did it quickly! In fact, he didn’t even bother to book an accessible room or really make any inquires about access at all. Why? Because he just wanted the best down-and-dirty-book-it-on-the-internet-now hotel deal. So basically it was point, click and pack. And off to Chicago he went.

Now granted he encountered some obstacles, but he didn’t go into it blind. And for the most part he was able to make do. For example, he didn’t have an accessible hotel room (after all he didn’t book one); however I’m told that the bathroom at McDonalds worked just fine. In the end, he was able to get around the city on public transpiration, get to the theater, eat, drink and be merry and generally have a good time. All without any advance planning.

Now granted John’s way of travel isn’t for everybody -- and to be honest it’s not even what John usually does -- however the fact that he even was able to do it (albeit with some difficulty) is a testament to our improved accessibility. For a long time I’ve looked at accessibility from the top down; but John made me look at it from another perspective -- from the bottom up.

So next time I’m asked the "how far have we come" question I’ll be able to answer it from a fresh perspective. After all, I don’t think John could have had his on-the-fly theater weekend in Chicago 30 years ago.

And in my book, that’s real progress.

In this day and age of de-institutionalization, many developmental centers are going the way of the dinosaur. They're closing up shop, because they simply aren't needed any more, as former residents are being moved into less restrictive environments. And that's a very good thing, as far as disabled advocates are concerned. But what do you do with those old facilities? Board them up? Tear them down? Just let them sit and hope for the best?

Well, in the case of the Syracuse Developmental Center, none of the above. In fact, the Empire State Development Corporation plans to sell that facility to Syracuse Resort (a limited partnership) who in turn plans to turn it in to a "resort for the disabled."

Yes, you read that right - these folks are actually turning a former institution into a resort for the disabled.

I can just hear the conversation now.
Me: So where are you going on your vacation, Joe?
Joe: We're going upstate to an institution.
Me: Oh, I see.
Joe: You know, that place is Syracuse where Pete was locked up for four years?
Me: Yeah, right. Well, er, have a good time.

OK, you get the drift. But aside from the obvious PR problems with it all, there's a bigger issue with the whole grand plan. The developer plans to make it a "disabled only" resort. Yes, that's right folks, in this day and age of mainstreaming and inclusion, they want to move backwards and segregate PWDs once again.

And that's a fact that's not lost on many locals. As one woman put it, "When we go out on vacation, or to any recreational activity, I don't limit myself to a site that caters to my disability. I look for accessibility, but I look for a site that is inclusive for everyone."

And she's not alone. Not by a long shot. That's one thing Simon Darcy discovered in his groundbreaking "Access to Anxiety" survey. He debunked the popular myth that people with disabilities like to travel in groups with other people with disabilities, when he reported that 80-90% of his disabled respondents reported traveling with one able-bodied friend, family member or companion.

And to be honest, this whole "disabled only resort" concept has been tried before here in the US (several times) and it really hasn't worked. In the end there were always funding issues.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't have any problems with someone making a resort barrier-free; in fact I encourage that. But everyone should be welcome, and access should just be another one of the amenities offered - like internet access or the free breakfast buffet. When you advertise a resort as being "for the disabled" it reeks of segregation, especially when the former incarnation of that facility was exactly that - a place where disabled people were segregated.

So if the folks at Syracuse Resort are reading this - reconsider your approach. Sure, go ahead and use the principles of universal design to make sure your new resort is barrier-free; but market it to everybody. In the end, that will be the more successful approach; as you will be able to address a wider market to pay the bills, yet still offer access features to those folks who need them.

Food for thought.

While perusing the online edition of the UK's Travel Weekly, I stumbled across the travel agent sentiment about the full implementation of the EU access regulations in 2008. Well at least I think I did.

The article in question warns travel agents that when the EU regs are fully implemented next July, they will be required to inform the airlines at least 48 hours in advance if their clients have access issues that require accommodation. If they fail to do that, it could result in a fine of up to £5,000. If however a travel agent books a disabled client on a package tour through a tour operator, the tour operator must inform the airline.

OK, let's back up a minute here. It just seems like common sense for a travel agent to notify the airline if their client needs an aisle chair or wheelchair assistance at the airport or has any other access need. But apparently it's not, as it had to legislated. That's somewhat troubling, however it does explain why many clients fall through the cracks.

But at least the new legislation will take care of that. And more.

Apparently it also requires all travel agents and tour operators to at least provide a minimum level of website access to people with visual disabilities. Now that goes way above and beyond what's required here in the US; however I also have to add that many companies voluntarily provide such access.

It's an interesting regulation, as part of it addresses something that should be a standard practice as it's common sense, while another part goes way beyond what's already on the books in the US.

Well at least folks are addressing the issues, and that's a very good thing. It can't lead to anything but improved access.