I attended a conference in Las Vegas which was one of the most typical experiences from the accessibility point of view. Most of the challenges were familiar, and usually I wouldn’t even think about them. However, this time I took note on everything that maybe a challenge, and I will take you through it. I will explain the accessibility problem, and will provide a solution if it is available.
The conference
It was the Association of Corporate Counsel conference at Resort World, I stayed in the Conrad. We attended to exhibit our services as conference sponsors, we had a panel discussion, and participated at the conference presentations. The hotels and convention center, as well as the exhibit area were connected with hallways. It was the type of event and type of setting that I generally do a few times a year.
Airline
Before we talk about the conference, the airline selection is worth a few words. Generally I try to find reasonable prices, but if possible I like to use United Airlines. Over the years I learned that I can trust them, they will be accommodating with my guide dog, the will resolve any issues, and their web site is relatively easy to use, which is not necessarily the case with all airlines or reservation sites. I traveled with an airline which closed the flight in front of me because my dog wasn’t registered according to them (he was), I tried to buy tickets from airlines who’s web site simply wasn’t usable with a screen reader. Things happen while traveling, especially these days, but I got to trust United that they will get me where I need to be without many surprises. When I spend a few more Dollars on a ticket, it is always money well spent.
At the airport
I had a connecting flight from Cleveland. Out of the three airports, twice they wanted me to sit in a wheelchair. There is two problems with it, I don’t need a wheelchair, and it is not feasible with the guide dog anyway. The reasoning is, people who help me can quickly push me through the airport. But I am able to walk, and I can walk fast if needed. I do not need a wheelchair, also unless you are used to it, it can be a scary experience. I am used to perceiving the world walking, and I lose my sense of connection with where we are when sitting in a wheelchair, where people otherwise walk.
Getting an Uber
In Las Vegas I wanted to get an Uber to get to my hotel. The person who helped me navigate through the airport explained that once the Uber arrives, they will give me their exact location which consists of a letter and a number so I can find them. I didn’t get such a message, so she had to help me locate the car. It was noisy, crowded, and I wasn’t going to be able to find the car on my own. Usually I would text the driver that they need to look for a blind person, but not sure how doable it is at the airport where you can’t just stop anywhere. Here, I needed to ask for help, it made my life so much easier.
The hotel
When I got to the hotel, I asked my usual questions at the front desk, and asked security to help me get to my room for the first time. I got an ADA compliant room near the elevator on the 27th floor. As I was walking with the security guard, I asked him a few questions. For example about where I can take out my dog, and I explained to him what I’m looking for. Any grass, gravel, turf of any kind. He kept insisting that I should go to the other hotel that has a grassy area. It was a good walk, probably 5-10 minutes, when I take Baldwin out first thing in the morning, the worst thing I can do with him is to make him walk for 10 minutes. Besides, he is trained to go anywhere, he doesn’t even need gravel, I just know he likes it. Of course, I don’t want to just take him on the concrete under the window were people are eating breakfast. But at this point, the security guard wasn’t helpful answering my questions, I had to go out to the front and figure out the situation for myself.
I had a few surprises in the hotel room. I bumped into a shelf were all kinds of boxes were put out, things for purchase. Each had a sensor to register the purchase. During my stay I knocked over these objects a few times, I was hoping none of them registered as a purchase. Maybe it was good stuff, but I wasn’t sure what, it could have been too much effort to figure it out.
The other interesting thing was the AC control, which was placed lower so that people from a wheelchair can comfortably reach it. Well, I comfortably bumped into it a few times, when I was looking for something else. Each time I felt that it vibrated. It turned out that it was a touch control unit, and I accidentally set it to something I didn’t want. I had to call the front desk and ask for help to reset it for me. I didn’t have a good way to set the temperature for myself unless I asked for help.
The shower was the other challenging thing. There were a couple of levers, and a couple of shower heads. One shower head was movable, the other was mounted on the ceiling, or somewhere I couldn’t touch it. As I turned the water on, there was water coming from all directions, sometimes cold, sometimes hot, it took me a good while to figure out how it works. It just seems like each hotel, even within the same chain has a different type of faucet and shower control.
There were also three bottles mounted on the wall, I could have figured out what was what with assistance or with a character recognition system, but I just prefer to bring my own toiletries.
The hotel was huge, 66 floors, connections to other buildings, etc. Hallways were going in all kinds of angles and directions. The first night I asked my colleague who staid at the same place to explain the layout. It was extremely helpful to get a good understanding of what’s where, but I still got lost a few times. There was music playing from many speakers. Usually when music plays from one speaker, it is a good reference point when getting around, but when there are many speakers it is just noise and confusion. And the music wasn’t all that good to make it worthwhile.
Breakfast
There was a restaurant near the elevator where they served breakfast. The first morning I asked the waitress to tell me what they have. She read the menu that I picked from, but later that day somebody mentioned that it was a breakfast buffet. I would have never known, maybe I would have picked something different that day.
When my breakfast arrived, eggs, sliced ham and potatoes, it was on a medium size plate, completely full, when I moved anything the potatoes started to fall off the plate. If I took more time to explore what the plate looks like, maybe I would have eaten nicer. It certainly was a challenging plate to enjoy and navigate at the same time.
The conference area
The presentations were listed on the conference web site, I could easily pick what I wanted to attend. They also had a mobile app, which sounded like a great idea, but it was totally useless with a screen reader, I ended up not using it. Thus, I had to take my own notes and send it to my phone to know during the day what I wanted to attend.
All presenters were required to submit their presentations in advance, including any supplementary materials. It was extremely helpful, I didn’t have to worry about paper based handouts, I could access the materials online as long as it was usable with a screen reader.
During presentations, many teams ran a poll. In order to participate, we had to find a QR code with our phone. When I tried, I could not find it. Maybe if I practiced more in advance, I could have found it. I know it is doable, but certainly not easy to quickly catch a QR code from the back of the room. I missed out on the poll questions, but for all practical purposes it didn’t make a difference.
The exhibit area was huge and crowded. I had absolutely no idea what the layout was and how to get around. When I entered the exhibits, I just asked for help to find our company’s booth. If it was about more time, I could have found a good way to figure it out, for now it was easier to ask for help.
Going out to a restaurant
One day I decided to go out to Hell’s Kitchen for lunch. I just love Gordon Ramsay’s food, but his nearest restaurant is over an hour flight away from home. I took an Uber, but when I got there I immediately got lost. The driver told me to turn left, and walk about 50 feet. What I didn’t realize was that I didn’t know after I get out of the car, or left of the car. Well, it wasn’t left, and wasn’t 50 feet, again, I had to ask. The lunch was wonderful.
When I was done, I decided to get a taxi so I could get back to the hotel faster. When I got into the car, I heard a text to speech system instructing me to press the middle of the screen three times to get voice guidance. This system exists in many cities, but I have not used it before, as I am using ride sharing for the last eight years or so, so I decided to try it.
The quality of the speech is quite bad, but it is understandable. I could touch the screen and check the current price. When I got out, I could set the tip and make a payment with my credit card. It is not a fast process, but I was happy to find that I could pay independently.
Conclusion
I think that was enough for three days. It was interesting to realize when I was taking notes that I just navigate life without even thinking much about it, but such a simple business trip can be full of challenges, and most of the time I need to dependent on different services that they make their products accessible, otherwise I have to ask for help. I tried to do most things as independently as possible, but I have to admit, I couldn’t have done it completely on my own.
