World Tourism Day - Tourism For All Promoting Universal Accessibility #Tourism4All #WTD2016

What we will cover:

✤ What is World Tourism Day

✤ Challenging perceptions

✤ WebAbility

✤ What not to do

✤ Opportunities

✤ Inspiring accessible innovations

Accessible Tourism - It’s all of our business Making the impossible, possible

Source: UNWTO

Ever since its inception in 1980, World Tourism Day is celebrated on 27 September to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.

As the official day set aside in the United Nations Calendar the celebration seeks to highlight tourisms potential to contribute to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing some of the most pressing challenges society is faced with today.

Past World Tourism Days

Inclusion is the driving force, not Accessibilty Accessible Tourism is about the mainstream industry embracing the market

Challenging pre-conceptions: what do you see? We are all subject to our past experiences and our habitual ways of thinking

Challenging the pre-conceptions: what do you see? Alexsandro Palombo has drawn Disney heroines with disabilities to highlight inequality.

Challenging the pre-conceptions: what do you see? The Italian artist told the Huffington Post he was inspired to create the series after a bout with cancer left parts of his body paralysed.

Challenging the pre-conceptions: what do you see? The images are intended to challenge conventional perception of beauty, and give young girls who may be disabled themselves real role models to look up to

Challenging the pre-conceptions: what do you see? Sue Austin TED talk ‘They saw me with their assumptions of what it must be like to be in a wheelchair.’

Challenging the pre-conceptions: what do you see?

Challenging the pre-conceptions: what do you see?

The Accessible Icon Project - http://accessibleicon.org/ In July 2014, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill to remove the word "handicapped" from signs for people with disabilities and update the standard wheelchair symbol with a more active "accessibility logo."

Not one size does not fit all

Living with disability is not just about wheelchair access

Tips for making your Website and Social Media Accessible Creating easy online experiences for people living with a disability when they visit your website. (Image: iStock)

1. Choose a content management system that supports accessibility.

✤ Common examples include Drupal and Wordpress, but there are many other options available.

✤ Make sure to choose a theme/template that is “Accessibility Ready”

2. Use headings correctly to organise the structure of your content.

✤ Screen reader users can use heading structure to navigate content. By using headings (<h1>, <h2>, etc.) correctly and strategically, the content of your website will be well-organized and easily interpreted by screen readers

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3. Know your audience.

✤ If you're passionate about making the most accessible site possible, try to get a physical read on how someone with disabilities actually goes online.

✤ You can also use yourself as an example. Download a screen reader, like Google's free ChromeVox, and learn firsthand how assistive technology works.

4. Use alt tags.

✤ When you hover your mouse over an image on a website, the little words that pop up are called alt tags.

✤ For someone who has a visual impairment and uses a screen reader (a software program that reads text on a website out loud), the alt tags are read aloud, and are the only way a user knows what the image is.

✤ Take alt tags seriously and use them as an opportunity to describe the image accurately and succinctly.

Examples of Alt Tags

Google Images Source: www2.le.ac.uk

Google Images Source: http://www.howtoseo.website/

5. Create subtitles and transcripts.

✤ YouTube have tools that allow users to add subtitles to their clips.

✤ Making a transcription of the video available online is also an incredibly helpful resource for users.

6. Describe your links.

✤ When embedding a link in a post, it's more useful to describe the link, rather than just telling the reader to "click here.”

✤ For example, it's better to write out, "To learn more about our Melbourne experiences, check out Top 10 Things To Do In Melbourne" instead of "To learn more about our Melbourne experiences, click here."

7. Automatic alt text for Facebook Accessibility.

✤ The Facebook Accessibility team launched 5 years ago with a goal to make Facebook an enjoyable experience for everyone.

✤ Part of their work is dedicated to developing products specifically for people with disabilities.

✤ You can try out the technology for yourself if you use Facebook on any iOS device. Just turn on VoiceOver (Apple’s screen reading software), listed under general settings. Then open the Facebook app and scroll through your news feed; when you swipe past a photo, the technology will tell you what might be in it.

Facebook Automatic Alternative Text New Featurehttp://www.businessinsider.com.au/facebook-automatic-alternative-text-new-feature-2016-4?r=US&IR=T

Learning from others… We don’t know what we don’t know!

Discrimination case against coach company Murrays...

✤ “It really is the principle. Right now the legislation says the only way standards can be enforced if there are breaches and people individually file a complaint”

✤ “It’s not about me - its about making sure the standards are complied with - it’s about people’s human rights”

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

“Your labelling me” - Quentin Kenihan

“The fact is the newspaper thinks that disability is a soft target. I doubt you'd ever see the headline saying Pensioners or Veterans were a burden. This proves that Australian People with a Disability are still not recognised as being equal. We've given equal rights to women, people of different race and religion and sexual preference. Unfortunately we as a community are left in the cold and this headline proves it. I'm so angry and hurt at this headline I'm nearly in tears.”

Read more: https://www.facebook.com/QuentinKenihan/posts/917813104922188:0 See interview: https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/watch/quentin-kenihan-uncensored/vp-BBwwZAz

What are you missing?Improving access means tapping into a large and growing market.

Did you know?

✤ One in four people (about 4 million) in Australia is living with a disability. Their total spending power is around $1.5 billion per year.

Did you know?People with a disability spend $8 billion a year on Australian tourism experiences accounting for 11 per cent of total tourism

We Have An Ageing Population Increasingly Effected By Disabilities - Parents Travelling With Children In Prams - Larger Groups That Include People With A Disability Means The Potential Benefits Of Accessible Tourism To Your Business Are Even Greater.

Did you know?Accessible tourism market does not necessarily mean wheelchair users.

The total tourism expenditure attributable to this market is 8 billion per year or 11% of overall tourism expenditure.

Kiff Saunders Global Ballooning Australia

Debby Conlon, Changing Places

Laura Cavallo, CEO Destination Melbourne

Tourism Victoria: Accessibility Resource Kit

✤ What are you missing?

✤ Explore your local area

✤ Make low cost changes

✤ Assess building and facilities

✤ Describe your business

✤ Promote your business

✤ Develop a Business Plan

✤ http://bit.ly/2dr2Vyb

By @Martin_Heng

FREE Lonely Planet Accessible Melbourne eBook http://www.lonelyplanet.com/accessible-melbourne

By @Photoability

PhotoAbility Inclusive Imageshttp://www.photoability.com.au/

@desikaratzias | @VTICNews | @UNWTO

#Tourism4All #WTD2016