[Guide] Adapting Experiences for guests with disabilities

[Deirdre122]

I’m a mom to an adventurous young man who has a physical disability and founder of a sports nonprofit for youth with disabilities. I’m always looking for inclusive activities and advocating for accessibility.

I also host an Airbnb Experience, offering horse-riding trails in a wildlife reserve near Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Here, guests can also see giraffes, zebras and other species. However, due to its nature, this Experience may not be accessible for everyone. I often balance advocating for young adults who participate in adventures, and examining my own Experience offering.

A few years ago, I received a booking from a mom and her two daughters. One of the daughters is blind. I chose the most appropriate horse for her. While our assistant rode up front taking the lead, I rode closely alongside her. She said she could tell just how dry the summer was by listening to the horse’s hoofbeats on the parched grass. I’d never focused on these sounds before. This turned out to be one of my most memorable and rewarding rides. She and I became friends and still keep in touch. 

While taking a deeper look at my Experience from a diversity and inclusion perspective, I found that I’m unavoidably excluding a number of people based purely on the nature of the Experience and its limitations. To create a more inclusive Experience, I introduced a virtual safari two years ago. Any guests who can’t ride horses now have the option to do the safari Experience riding in my golf cart rather than on a horse.

My son joins me daily on these drives. When an assistant rider isn’t available, I often accompany my Co-Hosts in the golf cart as they guide horse trails. We always have two guides present—one leading the horse at the front , and one at the back keeping an eye out. I understand that accompanying Co-Hosts in absence of assistant riders /guides to assist the guests won’t be possible for all Experience Hosts, but I am doing my best to accommodate where I am reasonably and safely able to.

I  recently met two best friends, one of whom has a disability. They’re traveling the world to promote inclusion and accessibility. They’ve visited 19 countries on six continents. They asked to meet with me while in Cape Town, South Africa. I invited them to come and test my Experience and they gave me some useful feedback. 

Although it may not be immediately possible to be accessible for absolutely everybody, there are steps we can take to become more inclusive. Here are a few things I did to ensure my guests with disabilities feel welcomed: 

1. Meeting point and welcome area
   
   I reviewed our meeting point and welcome area for potential adjustments. Sometimes it’s easy to make minor adjustments, while, of course, some things are more complicated. For example, if you host a city walking tour, consider moving your meeting point to a more accessible location. For eg:  consider relocating to the park near the main entrance, which has better accessibility features and ample seating for guests.
   
   * Accessible parking: Are guests able to park close to the meeting point? Is there a parking bay that’s wide enough for a person to transfer from a vehicle to a wheelchair?
   
   * Step-free entrance: Are guests able to get from the parking area to the entrance without obstacles or steps?
   
   * Accessible bathroom: Are there accessible bathrooms close to the meeting and end points?
   
   
2. Route or Experience
   
   I asked myself: Am I able to adapt the route or Experience to accommodate different disabilities or mobility limitations? Using the above example again of a walking tour, are you able to choose routes that are even and step free?
   
   
3. Inclusive language
   
   Check your vocabulary for terms or phrases that may come across as derogatory or are no longer acceptable. Another common occurrence is service providers speaking to the spouse, parent, or caregiver and ignoring the person with the disability, assuming they don’t understand.
   
   
4. Special assistance
   
   An Experience listing on Airbnb has a checkbox that allows us to offer free admission to the assistant or caretaker of a person with a disability. This may be a person to assist a guest who is visually impaired or requires mobility assistance, or a sign-language interpreter for a guest who is deaf or hard of hearing.
   
   
5. Listing information and photos
   
   We can only hope to improve as we go and not all Experiences will be accessible for everyone. But if we provide as much information as possible, including photos and details of accessible facilities, it makes it easier for a guest with a disability to make an informed decision if your Experience will meet their individual needs and be possible for them to participate.
   
   
6. Test your facilities and Experience
   
   Before launching our Experience, we invited guests with disabilities to participate and give constructive feedback. This helped  us make any further adjustments and ensure we’re prepared for future guests.

Photo by Hurdle the World

The article is written based on my own personal experiences and opinions as a Host.

[Claudia331]

@Deirdre122 thank you for this amazing and useful guide and thanks for Damian and you as fantastic team and your testimony! 💖

[Bhumika]

Thank you for sharing such a lovely and heartwarming story with us @Deirdre122 ! It seems like you have given so much thought and consideration into setting up your Experience for guests with disabilities. It is so great to read about the efforts you have put in as a Host 💖!!

[Jue0]

@Deirdre122  thank you so much for this informative and very useful article. I have learned a lot. Well done on all you and Damian do on Inclusive experiences. Hopefully I’ll be able to visit you in person sooner!

Was great meeting you in Johannesburg last month and learning more on the topic. Kudos. Keep it up.

👏🌺❤️Very inspiring

[Deirdre122]

Hi @Jue0 @Claudia331 @Bhumika , Thank you for the lovely comments!

I wanted to share one of my recent experience with all of you and other Hosts.

In November 2023, I was traveling to Finland with my son who has a physical disability and uses a wheelchair. I have been wonderfully surprised to find how wheelchair access has been prioritized in many of the places we have visited - a particular example being the Santa Claus Village. 

While Damian had his personal visit to Santa’s office, we were delighted to see a wheelchair ramp up to Santa’s platform. Santa also asked us how we were finding the accessibility in the village and elaborated that it was important to them and how they would like our feedback on any challenges we experienced while visiting, and suggestions on how to improve. This is what we, as travelers with extra needs, would like to experience throughout the world - where access has been prepared for us without us needing to ask for special assistance or improvisations. Where others ask how they can make experiences easier for us, without us needing to be the ones to initialize these conversations. 

[Jue0]

@deidre122 This is Excellent. Encouraging to hear this. Glad Damian and you were able to visit Santa Village in Finland and that  Accessibility is well factored in. Kudos 🎉👏 Happy Holidays 🙏🎊

[Daniel1651]

First of all, how wonderful it is to read how your experience has been adapted to make it more accessible to everyone. And how beautiful the story of the blind guest who was able to ride a horse with your hand. It's nice to know that we can all learn from diversity. The sound of horse hooves may go unnoticed by many, but is appreciated by others ❤️

And added to all this, what a joy to know that you have found such an accessible experience visiting Santa Claus's village! I can imagine the Damian's happiness!

Somehow, everything you give, you get back, dear @Deirdre122 
We need many more Hosts like you and Santa Claus.

Love!