Using Web 2.0 for the Benefit of Universal Design and Inclusive Travel
This series of interviews with experienced travelers having different disabilities is a good introduction to the less-discussed realities of inclusive travel.
An example of inclusive destination development on Grand Canary Island (Article in Spanish)
A San Antonio-Based accessHomes Brings Universal Design into Public Awareness. This builder "even get[s] calls from people with no disabilities. They just like the idea of the wide-open rooms." Hotel, resort, and cruise ship designers, are you taking notes?
A local review of inclusive travel from Asia. Although the original title of this Malaysian newspaper article confuses the concept "disability" (lack of functionality) with "handicap" (socially constructed exclusion based on disability) the article itself is a revealing look at the global reality of the barrier-free travel market.
Bathmavathi Krishnan, a wheelchair user, and Danny Lee, who is deaf provide a short useful list of travel planning resources. Supplement it with the more comprehensive list at the Travel & Disability section of Suite101.com ( http://www.suite101.com/links.cfm/18423 )
The subtitle of the story reads, "Recent efforts to improve accessibility are opening up more of the Caribbean to travelers with disabilities." It is a sign of success to see the Inclusive Destinatiion Development pioneers at Multi: Design for People getting credit at MSNBC for the renaissance on St. John's Island, US Virgin Islands.
Lee Siew Peng writing for "The Star Malaysia" confronts one of the harsh bifurcations of reality: There two types of people - those with disabilities and those temporarily non-disabled. She walks away with a heart of compassion as travel takes on some new twists with a broken ankle and a new world opens up. In the process she glimpses the pleasures of multi-sensory sensory travel.
Lee Siew Peng continues her series on inclusive travel. here she interviews Bathmavathi Krishnan who notes, "The problem is that people sometimes don't understand how important the wheelchair is to us. They think we're being fussy but the wheelchair is our life! It's as sensitive as a racing bike - if the spokes are even a little out of alignment, it means trouble."
Lee Siew Peng compiles a "Wish List" from travelers with disabilities on what makes for an inclusive travel
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