Event Planner Sensitivity to the Needs of Individuals with Visual Disabilities Gina Fe G. Causin, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Hospitality, Restaurant & Tourism Management Dept. of Nutrition & Health Sciences College of Education & Human Sciences University of Nebraska Lincoln Tessa McCarthy, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Curriculum and Instruction School of Education; North Carolina Central university
INTRODUCTION In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guaranteed persons living with disabilities equal protection under the law in access to employment opportunities, ii public accommodations, and places, transportation, and telecommunications. According to Fenich (2012), federal legislation made it illegal to discriminate against or fail to provide a reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities. The ADA which only applies to the United States, has provided enormous opportunity for persons with disabilities to participate i t in American society as students, t employees, consumers, and many other ways (Causin, Fontenot & Keaty, 2010). Despite the progress made since the ADA was signed into law, people with disabilities are still limited in their access to full community life. According to the National Organization on Disability, 35% of Americans with Disabilities say they are completely l uninvolved din their communities, compared to 21% of those without disabilities (Causin, Fontenot & Keaty, 2010). Despite a thorough review of the literature, no studies were found which evaluated the experiences of individuals who are blind and have visual impairments at meetings. The aim of this study is to determine the current level of accessibility at meetings and events perceived by consumers who are blind and visually impaired. Furthermore, information from this survey will be used to educate meeting and event planners about the needs of individuals who are blind and visually impaired. For people with visual impairment, an access is not enough. They need the standard equipment and special facilities, but also need to overcome the fear from the intrinsic thought such as fear for unfamiliar environment, social attitude, etc., to get the desired experience. But people with vision impairment often highlight the physical difficulties and depend on the instinct too much.
METHODOLOGY A non experimental, descriptive survey was utilized for this study. According to Gay and Airasian i (2003; p.277) typical survey studies are concerned with ihassessing attitudes, opinions, i preferences, demographic, practices and procedures (Causin, 2007). Since, this study determined the needs of individual with visual disability, it follows that a descriptive or survey research design was useful. Individuals with visual disabilities are considered low incidence id subjects which h means it is very difficult to get a bigger sample which h correlates with higher power (Wright, 2010). This survey was sent to listserves of organizations which are comprised of or served individuals with visual disabilities. Examples of these listserves are National Federation of the Blind (NFB); American Council of the Blind (ACB); and Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI). Email addresses for these listserves are publicly available online on the organization websites. Participants were assigned a code number which was used rather than a name for data entry. Electronic documents were stored in a folder on a password protected computer. Paper surveys were stored in a locked file cabinet. Participants were given the option but were not required to provide their name on the surveys. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
RESULTS All or 100% of the respondents (n=25) considered themselves to have a visual impairment, while only 80% considered d themselves blind. Twenty percent of respondents did not considered d themselves as blind though they met the definition of legally blind. In terms of the frequency of travel, 76% of the respondents typically travel more than three times per year and the rest (24%) traveled once or twice per year. They also conduct weekly meetings at their home. Majority of the respondents usually travel to meetings, conferences, and conventions alone (83%), but some chose to travel with a companion (17%). The companion was usually the spouse. 57% of the travel companions are not visually impaired or blind while 33% have visual impairment. Ten percent of the respondents sometimes travel with a companion who not visually impaired and sometimes travel with a companion who is visually impaired. In terms of additional disabilities, the 88% of the respondents do not have any other disabilities while 12% have additional disabilities. Additional reported disabilities included epilepsy and hearing loss. An overwhelming 87% of the respondents indicated that their overall meeting/event experiences were mediocre. The rest (13%) indicated that they have terrible experiences. Respondents were asked dto comment on past positive experiences. These experiences seemed to occur when individuals organizing and attending the event, as well as other employees of the facility were willing to help. Conferences which were focused on blindness and visual impairments such as consumer group meetings and conferences for professionals in the field of blindness yielded more iti i
DISCUSSION & RECOMMENDATION One recommendation is to makesure alllocations locations are labeled in accessible formats. Training hotel and event staff in disability awareness and skills to better assist individuals who are blind and visually impaired is another important way to improve accessibility and the experience of attendees who are blind and visually impaired. Another key recommendation which hresulted dfrom the survey was the importance of accessible presentation materials.