Category: Travel Blog
Guide Dogs UK celebrates 90 years!
With Guide Dogs UK celebrating their 90th birthday today, the Shropshire Star took some time to publish a great article and shout out how amazing guide dogs are. The article emphasizes just how much independence working guide dogs give their handlers. I write quite often here on BlindTravels about myRead More …
Follow us on Facebook!
Did you know that Blind Travels has a Facebook page? Come and follow the page for updates on my upcoming trips, meetups, and speaking engagements. I also post a lot of my travel photography there, as well as tips and triks to get better images when you are traveling. SeeRead More …
Railway stations ‘mapped’ for visually impaired passengers
Sussex are taking accessibility to the next level for some of their railway stations. The improvements implemented to make the stations more accessible to blind and visually impaired travelers include some great looking tactile maps manufactured by the Royal National Institute of Blind People, higher contrast markings on stairs andRead More …
IBM creates app to help blind people socially distance
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, many things changed very quickly and accessibility was not considered into many of the new guidelines and rules put into place. Stores places sighs on the floor marking aisles for one-way traffic and there were a million signs put up instructing patrons to stayRead More …
Why do guide dogs stop at every corner?
A guide dog and their handler are considered a team, they go everywhere together, and the dog is responsible for not only keeping their handler safe from obstacles, but also providing subtle cues for the location of the team along their route. The other day, I crossed a street andRead More …
Facebook improving AI to detect contents of images
Facebook has increased the usefulness/capabilities of their AI which powers the detection of image contents, improving the experience for blind and visually impaired users. I use this feature often and have seen a marked improvement in the quality of the way Facebook detects people, objects, and locations in posted photos. Read More …
Be my eyes and Guide Dogs for the Blind team up to help alumni
Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) and the BeMyEyes app have reamed up to offer specialized help via the app for their blind and visually impaired clients. If you have never used the BeMyEyes app, it is a wonderful smartphone app which allows users to connect to a volunteer whoRead More …
The British Museum and VocalEyes team up for upcoming exhibition
We all want to get back to traveling, and especially going to museums again. Many in the visually impaired community have concerns about the dynamics of COVID-19 and returning to travel destinations like museums. In the meantime, it is great to see museums like The British Museum offering virtual optionsRead More …
Japan’s tactile paving helps visually impaired travel.
visually impaired easioerThis is such a great innovation. Seiichi Miyake came up with the idea for the two types of paved stones after seeing a visually impaired man with a can almost hit by a car. One of the two types of pavers has long shapes to denote travel directionRead More …
Sharing is caring
I am feeling the summer sadness. I am supposed to be getting ready for a trip to Alaska right now, but like everyone else I’m stuck at home thinking about travel. My dad used to call it having itchy moccasins – yes, he was Native American. I love to travelRead More …