Able Travel Accessible Adventure advice for traveling in Africa and beyond. Absolut BCN Un blog sobre todo en Barcelona en Castellano Access Holidays Accessible accommodation in the Dordogne, France. AccessibleBarcelona A guide to Barcelona for disabled people. Accessing Arizona Loren's blog about access in Arizona Barrier Free Travels Candy Harrington's travel blog for disabled people Deaf Mom Karen Pulz's Blog "A Deaf Mom Shares Her World" Do It Myself Blog Glenda Watson's Blog about living with cerebral palsy Drink Barcelona Barcelona Bar Blog Get Around Guide Darren Hillcock's blog about disability travel news. Gimp on The Go A great travel resource and blog by quadriplegic, Adam Lloyd. Lucas “LazyLegz” Patuelli A Canadian breakdancer with AMC Matching Houses House exchange for disabled people across the world. Mathew Goodsell The ill-informed ramblings a criple. Nicaragua Living An online community for ex-pats in Nicaragua Outside The Box RTE's disability show presented by Owan McGowan. Play&Tour MP3 audio guides to European cities Rolling Rains Report Precipitating Dialogue on Travel, Disability, and Universal Design. Rough Riderz Adapted 4 Cross club in the UK. Seek Geo Seek Geo's VLog in ASL Sol y Paz Accessible accommodation in Argentina. The Wheel Life Grant Logon's blog on his site the Wheel Life. Titanium Arts Off-Road mountain bikes for disabled people. UpTake Hotels Find hotels for families and romantic vacations Viaje a Nicaragua Las experiencias de una tetraplejica viajando en Nicaragua
“La mayoría de sordos del país sigue sin ir a la escuela. Según datos de la Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Nicaragua (Ansnic) sólo un poco más del 20.8 por ciento de los que carecen de capacidad auditiva asiste a clases.
Es decir que de las 12 mil personas que no oyen en Nicaragua, sólo 2,500 logra estudiar. “La mayoría no va la escuela porque el colegio les queda largo de sus comunidades y porque no hay suficientes instructores del lenguaje de señas”, explica Sandra López, de Ansnic y de la Asociación de Intérpretes del Lenguaje de Señas de Nicaragua.”
On the 27th May 2008 I blogged about Play&Tour and their new audio guides in Barcelona and beyond. Whilst in Barcelona I met with the company and discussed how we could move the project forward for people with disabilities. We have agreed to create a map with various routes without barriers for wheelchair users and clearly mark them on their PDF maps. As well as this we will also show the locations of establishments that have facilities for people with disabilities along each route.
In the near future we will also be testing routes with the Catalan Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired to establish whether the audio guide may be useful for people with visual impairments. We are also looking at the possibility of creating a Universal GPS Guide for Barcelona that can be used by people with physical disabilities, blind, deaf and the wider general public. More details to come about this project later in the year or early 2009.
However, until this is available you can still download the general Barcelona audio guide for MP3 players, iPods and mobile phones here.
Well folks, after almost a month in Europe I’m finally back in Nicaragua and the weather is fantastic and hot to say the least. Whilst in Europe I didn’t have much time to update Accessible Everything, but now I should be back on the case.
Some of the things that I will be writing about will be:
Barcelona
A project with Play&Tour to create an MP3 Audio-Guide to Barcelona specifically aimed at people with physical disabilities.
GoCar, a 3 wheeled car GPS Guided Tour that can be used by people with physical disabilities.
A meeting with the Catalan Association of the Blind and Visually impaired with a view to bringing a small group of Spanish people with visual impairments to Nicaragua to undertake a responsible travel holiday.
United Kingdom
A review of a presentation that I did at Leeds Metropolitan University to Responsible Travel lecturers and Masters students about Inclusive Responsible Travel for people with disabilities.
A review of the Euston Premier Inn, London.
Although it’s been there for years, I also went on the London Eye for the first time, so I’ll be writing a short piece about that experience.
International
Traveling from the UK to Nicaragua with Continental Airways
Older stories that I never got around to Writing!
More about my trip to Guatemala Easter 2008
Hotel and destination reviews from India 2008
This week
Today I’m heading to Managua as tomorrow is the opening of the Central American Travel Market. More info to come in the next few days.
El Plan de Accesibilidad Universal de Paradores (PAUP), es una estrategia empresarial incluida en el Plan Estratégico 2004-2008 y que persigue la mayor adaptación posible de nuestros productos y servicios para todos nuestros clientes, como apuesta innovadora y de futuro del compromiso de responsabilidad social corporativa de la Red.
Una de las principales medidas desarrolladas en materia de accesibilidad ha sido la redacción de un Manual de Accesibilidad Universal, hecho a medida de las instalaciones hoteleras y que pretende ser una herramienta práctica y útil que proporcione soluciones en accesibilidad con comodidad y seguridad en cada uno de los Paradores, así como en cualquier otro establecimiento del sector.
El manual ya está siendo utilizado por los establecimientos de la Red y resume en 23 fichas técnicas todas las exigencias legales planteadas en esta materia por las comunidades autónomas. Además, en este documento se tienen en cuenta factores como la seguridad, el confort, la funcionalidad y la accesibilidad compatible con el carácter histórico y monumental de buena parte de los Paradores.
En el marco del PAUP también se ha creado la ‘Guía de Buenas Prácticas en Accesibilidad Universal de Paradores’, destinada a todo el personal de la Red y en el que se recopilan una serie de recomendaciones y orientaciones prácticas para cada uno de los departamentos del Parador, con el fin de brindar la mejor atención y servicio posibles.
Asimismo, también se ha desarrollado el proyecto denominado ‘Control de la Iluminación en Habitación Accesible’ y que consiste en el desarrollo e implantación de un sistema que permite el control automatizado del entorno de la habitación por parte del cliente, operando conjuntamente de forma convencional y de forma móvil.
El primer paso decisivo para el desarrollo del PAUP ha sido la realización de un estudio que ha permitido identificar el grado de accesibilidad de cada parador. Con este análisis y ya en una segunda fase, que se está implantando en muchos establecimientos, se pueden solucionar muchos de los obstáculos que se han ido detectando, ya que el objetivo de la Red es conseguir un nivel mínimo homogéneo en materia de accesibilidad en todos los establecimientos.
La oferta gastronómica también se ha visto modificada gracias al PAUP, ya que ahora todos los Paradores incluyen una oferta específica para colectivos con necesidades dietéticas especiales, como celíacos, hipertensos, diabéticos, niños o bebés, entre otros.
I found out about this through Absolut BCN (articulo en castellano) about a new service to provide audio guides in Barcelona that are available to hire from 11 hotels in the city. The guides are not only audible in several different languages including English, Spanish, Catalan, German, French and Japanese, but as they use iPods a map and photos of what you are looking at are also available on the screen. Prices start from 17€ just audio and 30€ with photo guide.
So what if you’rte not staying at one of these 11 hotels? Easy, you can download the guide directly onto your own personal MP3 or iPod direct from the Play&Tour website. The downloadable version doesn’t have an onscreen map or video but it does include a PDF map of Barcelona (you can download the map for free even if you don’t want to buy the MP3 product) with all of the points of interest marked that you can print off at home. Price 17€.
This service provides a hassle free tour guide for people that use wheelchairs or have mobility problems, no more digging out the guide book in the middle of the street and flicking through the pages to find the relevant spot, just click and play. Although the MP3 audio guide may have to be altered slightly, it would also be a good option for viusally impaired and blind poeple. Lets see which is the first company to come up with something like this for deaf people, this would really test the limits of technology! If anyone wants to give this a go, drop me a line, I think I might know the deaf guy for the job……
Play&Tour also cover Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Rome Seville and Venice.
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