DiversiGO is a city tour company offering tours for everyone, particularly for people with disabilities. Last time I was in Budapest, I scheduled a tour with them.
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Visiting the Souvenir Building Collectors Society convention
Recently I wrote about how my new building project helped me understand architecture so much better. But last week, when I attended the annual convention of the Souvenir Building Collectors Society, it took my appreciation to a new level.
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Sensory Journey with the North Carolina Museum of Art
Recently I have attended a fascinating online event, organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art, the exact title is: Mindful Museum: Virtual Sensory Journey through Art. The concept is that people who are blind, visually impaired, or would otherwise benefit from a sensory style experience, can get to know one or two artifacts of the museum from their own home, but elevated by the use of a kit of sensory objects.
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United Airlines Inflight entertainment with a screen reader
United Airlines has been in the news recently about their accessibility features. One feature, which was introduced in 2019, is not often talked about, the screen reader on the Inflight Entertainment System. On a recent flight, I thought I would document its features. But first, let’s talk about the history of inflight entertainment for blind people.
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The Museum of Flight in Seattle
When I learned that the 2024 LEAD conference is taking place in Seattle, I had no doubt that I wanted to visit the museum of flight. But there was only one challenge: their approximately biweekly scheduled tours for blind and visually impaired people were not during the week of the conference. I made a reservation for one of the events, and explained in the notes section that I was attending an accessibility conference and was wondering if we could make an exception for a special tour. Though there was a bit of a communication mishap, the docent supervisor, Brenda Mandt who was also at the conference, even attended my presentation, made the tour happen for me. And it wasn’t a small achievement, because my one and only free afternoon was on August 3rd, when the Jet Blast Bash took place, the absolute most busy day at the museum. But Brenda took the time to set it up for me, and even emailed me instructions on how to get into the museum because of the temporary closure.
Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability Conference, a conference of inspiration
Last year, I had the pleasure of attending the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) Conference, highlighting its exceptional commitment to accessibility and inclusivity. This year, I returned to the conference, which was in Seattle this time, and while it was just as accessible and inclusive as last year, this time I would like to talk about the enthusiasm and innovation. We often hear about what is not accessible, what is not compliant, what we can do better. And I would not argue with this for a second, but I think it is equally important to talk about what works, and celebrate success stories.
Interview with Jessica Hipp, the COO of WayAround
One of my big finds this year was the WayTags which let me label things around me, and I discovered how to enhance my travel with them. I had a few conversations with Jessica, and I was just amazed by the creativity people can use WayTags to make their lives easier. I was curious, how was such a great product born and all the ways it is used, so I asked Jessica for an interview, which you can read below.
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Blind people at the Paralympics
People at the Paralympics compete in 10 different categories, depending on their disability. Eight of the categories are physical disabilities, one is visual impairment, and one is intellectual disabilities. Depending on the individual sports, people with only certain disabilities can compete. This post will only contain resources related to blind and visually impaired people following the theme of the blog, but I would recommend getting to know the other sports as well. This topic has been covered in so many ways, so instead of creating yet another basic overview, it is intended to be more of a resource list for starters.
House from A Christmas Story
As I am always out searching for interesting museums, recently I found out that the house where the movie, “A Christmas Story” was filmed, at least parts of it, is open to the public. Not only, but there is also a museum and gift store next door. I couldn’t believe that it is 20 minutes from us and I didn’t even know about it. Last weekend I called an Uber and went to check it for myself.
Invisible dinner
For years I wanted to attend an invisible dinner, also called dinner in the dark, but either there wasn’t one nearby or I didn’t have time. But now I came across one in Kaposvár, which is in southwestern Hungary, right where one of my best friends lives. I thought I’d ask if he would like to have dinner and tell me all about his experience. I’ve been to one of these dinners before and read a lot about it, but I was curious about it from the perspective of sighted people. It turns out that my friend János has been to this event several times in the past, and he can tell me enough about it so that we can write this interview without participating. János is completely blind, but he talked so much with the participants so he had the answer for all my questions. So I asked him to tell me about his experience.