The video emphasizes that while physical accessibility, like ramps, is crucial for those with disabilities, it is just one part of creating a truly inclusive experience. The speaker, drawing from their background in tourism and psychology, highlights that the visitor experience is emotionally driven. They argue that tourism for individuals with disabilities, such as those who are blind or have low vision, should not just be about physical access but also about providing an engaging and memorable experience for everyone.

An incident recounted in the video with a friend who is blind led to the realization that tourism mainly caters to visual experiences, neglecting the needs of those who cannot rely on sight for their traveling decisions. This led to the creation of VKit, an innovative app co-designed with individuals who are blind or have low vision, providing audio descriptions to create inclusive, sensory-rich tourist experiences. This initiative demonstrates that accommodating sensory and accessibility needs can enhance the visitor experience and open new markets.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. accessibility [ˌæksɛsɪˈbɪlɪti] - (noun) - The quality of being easily reached, entered, or used by people with disabilities. - Synonyms: (availability, approachability, convenience)

Physical accessibility is a crucial component, but it's just one part of a much larger accessibility journey.

2. advocacy [ˈædvəkəsi] - (noun) - The act of supporting or arguing for a cause or policy. - Synonyms: (support, promotion, backing)

...hard won through advancements and advocacy across the globe.

3. holistic [hoʊˈlɪstɪk] - (adjective) - Concerning the whole rather than the parts. - Synonyms: (comprehensive, integrated, inclusive)

...disregard the wealth of insights we've gathered around creating a holistic experience.

4. immersive [ɪˈmɜrsɪv] - (adjective) - Providing a completely engaging or absorbing experience. - Synonyms: (engaging, enveloping, engrossing)

This immersive way of describing the sights, sounds, smells and textures that a visitor may encounter...

5. narrative [ˈnærətɪv] - (noun) - A spoken or written account of connected events; a story. - Synonyms: (story, account, tale)

An audio guide to the world encompassing all of our senses, not just the visual, and enriched with captivating narratives and accurate accessibility information.

6. co-design [koʊ-dɪˈzaɪn] - (verb / noun) - A process where designers and stakeholders collaborate on designing a product or service. - Synonyms: (collaborative design, joint design, participatory design)

...we co-designed with 250 individuals across 16 different countries who were blind or have low vision.

7. transaction [trænˈzækʃən] - (noun) - An instance or process of buying or selling something; a business deal. - Synonyms: (deal, exchange, trade)

To the casual observer, the tourism industry might seem quite transactional.

8. fundamental [ˌfʌndəˈmɛntl] - (adjective) - Forming a necessary base or core; of central importance. - Synonyms: (basic, essential, primary)

Ultimately, my education underscored a fundamental truth.

9. murky [ˈmɜrki] - (adjective) - Not clear; obscure or clouded. - Synonyms: (unclear, cloudy, vague)

...how to describe certain types of coral to somebody who's never seen nor touched coral and nor should you?

10. embrace [ɪmˈbreɪs] - (verb) - To accept something willingly or enthusiastically. - Synonyms: (accept, welcome, adopt)

If you're an operator, embrace the mindset that progress is better than perfection.

An audio guide to the world - Revolutionizing accessible tourism - Hailey Brown - TEDxBrisbane

When most people think about making their business accessible, they think of this a ramp. I know I did. And it's kind of understandable. The international symbol for a disability is a wheelchair. Let's be absolutely clear. I'm in no way diminishing the importance of physical accessibility. It is a fundamental human right that's been hard won through advancements and advocacy across the globe. Nevertheless, the journey toward realizing this right everywhere is still very much ongoing. Physical accessibility is a crucial component, but it's just one part of a much larger accessibility journey.

When I was in university, I studied tourism and psychology. Tourism because from the earliest time I can remember, all I ever wanted to do in life was travel and psychology, because the human brain and the way it works fascinates me. The way it inspires behavior and the way it makes us think, act, and feel as individuals. Looking back, one of the most central parts of my degree was something called the visitor experience. Ensuring every touch point of a tourist journey evokes a positive and memorable feeling. This is from the moment that you think about it to the moment you book, to the moment that you leave. So whether that's a hotel stay, a flight, a dining experience, or an adventure, the goal is to leave the visitor with a genuine fondness for the service that they've encountered. This feeling not only encourages them to return, but also to spread positive recommendations. That's what makes a good visitor experience.

Ultimately, my education underscored a fundamental truth. The world is perceived through emotions. This is why we don't revisit a place merely to see it again. We return because of the way it makes us feel. But when we shift our focus to the disability visitor experience, we tend to shift our focus to just one aspect. Physical accessibility. Three years ago, I thought the same thing. However, my perspective has evolved significantly as I've come to understand the intricate layers of the visitor experience through a different lens. When we limit our view of accessibility to just physical accessibility, we disregard the wealth of insights we've gathered around creating a holistic experience. So instead of creating indelible memories at every touch point and evoking a deep personal connection, instead we focus on whether the tourist can simply enter the premises.

As a result, conversations around accessible tourism are frequently oversimplified and, in my opinion, dehumanized, even when the intention is pure. And that matters. When I was a teenager and as a young adult, I'd pick up odd jobs from honestly, anywhere that would take me, including listing estate belongings on ebay, all for one purpose, to continue traveling, and all of My travels taught me an important truth. Travel is magical. To the casual observer, the tourism industry might seem quite transactional. Someone provides a bed, a meal, a flight or a tour, and then somebody else pays for it. But the reality could not be further from the truth. Tourism, done well, transports people to another place, another life, another culture. It allows us to be a part of something that is greater than ourself and be immersed in the moment. And that is magical. And everyone, without exception, should have the choice to experience that magic, because everyone deserves a holiday.

When I was in university, I had the opportunity to present an idea about a gap in the tourism industry to the World Tourism Forum Lucerne. One of the many great things about the tourism industry reflected in this competition is that it can be dynamic and nimble. It's not afraid to welcome new ideas or invest money where it can see a good market opportunity. With a week until the submission deadline, I had already drafted my entry, an idea that had nothing to do with accessible tourism. That day, I caught up with my friend Henry McPhillamy, who's been blind since birth. Henry's passion for travel mirrors my own. He finds joy in exploring new places and immersing himself in all that a destination has to offer.

During this conversation, Henry recounted a trip to Africa, where he successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. As you do during this conversation, he said, I was eager to conclude my activity with an equally exhilarating experience. So, like many adventurers, Henry sought out recommendations from friends, family and an expert Google to see what he should do next. The consensus was that he should go on a safari. So he did. It would be fair to say that Henry's experience was not what he imagined. It was one of very little commentary from the guides other than to look at the giraffe that he could not see. His mouth was filled with dust, and a sense of smell was overwhelmed by the scent of dirt and elephant shit.

After laughing about this, I asked Henry what would make his experience better. Henry said something. It was just a passing comment, but to me, it was such a profound statement that stayed with me and effectively would inspire what would come next. He said, I would love to just walk down the street and listen to the stories and sounds of the world around me. That comment, paired with Henry's underwhelming safari, sparked a profound realization. Tourism marketing and experiences are predominantly visual for somebody who is blind or has low vision. This makes it hard to make informed and independent decisions before and during travel. This revelation was a reminder that even with a comprehensive tourism degree, I had never truly considered this aspect, a glaring omission that years of study, extensive research and even Google had not brought to my attention.

Without hesitation, I abandoned my initial submission and rapidly composed a new one inspired by Henry's comment. An audio guide to the world encompassing all of our senses, not just the visual, and enriched with captivating narratives and accurate accessibility information. My idea was not solely pragmatic, it was rooted in values. And as a response to a clear gap in the market, I wanted to build a solution that at its core would be dedicated to embracing the diversity of our community, one that enables everyone to participate fully and immerse himself in all that a destination has to offer.

With mere days remaining until the submission deadline, I had no choice but to assume that Henry's experience maybe wasn't isolated and could be representative of the experience experiences of 575,000 Australians and 253 million people globally who are blind or have low vision. I entered the competition, was named a finalist, and I won the innovation category of the World Tourism Forum globally. It was surreal. And that's when the VKit app truly started to become a reality.

In 2021, I started to design the platform we co designed with 250 individuals across 16 different countries who were blind or have low vision. Put simply, co design means designing for 100% of the population, in this instance, not excluding the 20% of the population who identify as having a disability and with input from people with lived experience and who are experts in their field. The people we consulted said they wanted the content to be easy to use, accurate, engaging and helpful. And I wanted to do just that, and not in a mediocre way. I wanted to knock it out of the park, to play a key role in creating a visitor experience that had never been done before.

Easy, and I knew to do it as well as it could possibly be done. It wasn't going to be enough to hire just an expert copywriter to develop our content, because while I was completely committed to making this happen and doing it well, I didn't know what I didn't know. I needed to hire an expert copywriter who's traveled extensively, both locally and internationally, who's great at liaising with tourism organizations, who's blind or has low vision and was looking for a new job. I thought that that was a ridiculous wish list, that I would never find someone. But I met Lisa McEwen, who met all the criteria and more.

And so we set to work on creating our first audio descriptions. The first hurdle we came across popped up during very early stage of development. It highlighted what a unique and challenging thing that it was that we were trying to achieve. A tourism region on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef wanted us to audio describe it. The reef sounds simple. Well, how do you describe certain types of coral to somebody who's never seen nor touched coral and nor should you? We all turned to Lisa, who in collaboration with Bundaberg Tourism, described coral as a deflated mushroom with long cylinder stems that make little trees in the ocean.

It was arguably just one audio description, but to us it was a revelation around how much more detailed, holistic and engaging our audio descriptions could and should be. This immersive way of describing the sights, sounds, smells and textures that a visitor may encounter is how our content team, all who are blind or have low vision now write all of our content so what might typically be described as sleep under the stars becomes overhead. The clear, star filled sky wraps you in a peaceful slumber like a calming blanket of black velvet dappled in glistening diamonds.

In September 2022, after seven months of interactive and exhaustive co design, we launched the app and our dreams to revolutionize the way that the world promotes its destinations came to life. You might be asking yourself at this point, isn't audio already everywhere? Well, yes and no. Audio formats are on the rise, with annual growth rates of 28% for podcasting, 20% for audiobooks, and 21% for voice activated home devices like Alexa. However, the tourism industry still remains heavily fixated on videos and imagery for its promotion. These formats, however, visually engaging, offer little to no value to individuals who are blind or have low vision. We are working to change that. At our core, we are storytellers and accessibility advocates first and tourism marketers second.

Our commitment begins with providing accurate accessibility information so anyone can make an informed decision before they travel. But that is only the beginning. Our approach is simple, yet impactful. We believe that every touchpoint of a tourist journey should be able to be accessed and enjoyed by all. Audio should be a universally standard asset, and initiating the accessibility journey for tourism operators should be easy and affordable. We work with tourism boards that represent cities, regions, countries as well as individual operators, hotels and events who want their services to be more accessible in this instance through audio.

But our approach doesn't just benefit the user, it makes good business sense for the entire tourism industry. Currently, travelers with disabilities contribute $10.8 billion to the Australian tourism sector alone, accounting for 10 to 15% of the nation's tourism revenue. Yet with roughly 20% of the population identifying as having a disability, we're missing out on a huge potential market. This is a missed opportunity, not only socially but economically. By focusing on travellers who tend to stay longer and spend more, the tourism industry can tap into a potentially overlooked revenue stream. So it's not just about doing what's right, it's about making strategic choices that benefit everyone involved.

The impact we've achieved in less than a year has far exceeded our expectations. Our stories have been listened to over 200,000 times and our user returning on average four times a week. We've become an indispensable tool to travelers seeking immersive experiences. When we launched, I assumed that the majority of our users would be blind or have low vision. However, the feedback we've received tells us that a large portion of our users actually don't identify as having a disability, they simply just like audio content. We were surprised but delighted to hear about the significant benefits that the app delivers to people on the autism spectrum, both children and adults.

Some use it as a way to familiarize themselves with upcoming locations ahead of time, while others use it in real time as a way to spend time with friends and family while being able to control the external stimuli through noise cancelling headphones. Individuals with a broad range of disabilities have told us that they rely on our platform for accurate and up to date accessibility information and individuals with dyslexia have told us that they just prefer the audio over text. It just shows that when you embrace co design and design with accessibility first, you can create a product for everyone. But we still have a long way to go.

For our part, we're expanding into locations beyond Australia. We're continuing to innovate every touchpoint of a tourist journey and develop technology that acts as a response to the diverse needs of our users. But for the global tourism industry to become truly accessible, we need all players to come on board. So if you're in the tourism industry, here are a few quick tips to get started or to continue your accessibility journey. If you're an operator, embrace the mindset that progress is better than perfection and to just start if you don't know what to do or how to do it, just ask someone with a disability, peak bodies or look for online resources.

Consider creating audio as a standard asset within your company and marketing material. Think beyond look at the view and start thinking how do I describe the view and how does the view make me feel? If you're looking for two free things that you can walk away today, they are firstly, you can check your web accessibility with free online website accessibility checkers. And the second thing that you can do is provide all of your accurate accessibility information. If you're a tourism operator on your website, this includes what you have, but also what isn't available.

If you're in tourism related departments of government, start co designing directly with individuals with disabilities and start investing in accessible experiences above and beyond just physical infrastructure investments. Because travel is magical, tourism experiences are there to be enjoyed. They are a part of the human experience and they should be able to be accessed, experienced and loved by all.

Accessibility, Tourism, Innovation, Technology, Business, Global, Tedx Talks