Accessible to Deaf-Blind Guests
Tips from the deaf-blind community on accessible accommodations.
The American Foundation for the Blind publishes a pamphlet with an accessibility checklist for hotel, motel and other accommodations operators.
The Right to Accessible Accommodation
In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act sets the groundrules of accessibility. Accessibility goes beyond making premises wheelchair accessible. In the travel industry, the best accessible accommodations are hotels, motels, B&Bs and other lodgings where all guests are welcome and comfortable, regardless of their special needs.
A Checklist for Hotels and Motels
The American Foundation for the Blind has created an Americans with Disabilities Act checklist for hotels and motels called Ensuring Access to Facilities by Customers who are Blind, Deaf-Blind, or Visually Impaired.
The checklist itself, when seen on the website of the American Foundation for the Blind, does not look like a simple checklist to read. That's because it was apparently created as a pamphlet, and then the text was put on the website. It does take a little patience to read, as there is a lot of text. However, there are some excellent points.
In fact, this pamphlet could serve as a training manual for front-line motel and hotel staff, it's that comprehensive.
Some of the areas covered are:
- some common incorrect assumptions about people who have disabilities of sight or hearing
- what must a hotel or motel operator do for guests who are blind, deaf-blind, or visually impaired, to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act
- how to assess a hotel or motel to see if it is accessible for people with limited sight and hearing
- further sources of information
The accessibility assessment is broken down into:
- front desk services
- food and beverage services
- in-room services
- facilities and environmental access
- gift shop / retail services
- convention and meeting services
For each item on the accessibility assessment, there are numbers (from 1 to 14) directing the reader to notes explaining each item.
For example, item 6 is Using disability-sensitive language and etiquette. This is going beyond superficial political correctness and into communicating in a way which is effective, meaningful and respectful.
On the assessment checklist, item 6 is found in every one of the six areas, except for the facilities and environmental access.
Looking at the text of item 6, you can see what sort of language and etiquette is suggested when dealing with customers who are blind, deaf-blind, or have some degree of impaired vision or hearing loss. For example, it is acceptable in conversation to use words relating to vision, even if the person you are speaking to cannot see. Phrases like "watching TV", and words like "looking", "blind" and "visually impaired" are acceptable.
The overall pamphlet and the fourteen notes especially contain a lot of practical information for making guests who have limited sight or hearing, or who are completely deaf-blind, comfortable and welcome.
For more about choosing appropriate language for describing and dealing with people with disabilities, try Those Politically Correct Words and Politically Correct Travel Terms.
