This website is designed with the intention to help persons with disabilities find hotel accommodations most suitable to their personal needs.
My name is Alice Francis. I’m a graduate of The Art Institute of Portland where I earned my degree in Interior Design and first learned the principles of Universal Design – that is – design for everyone.
The Institute For Human Centered Design at www.adaptenv.org defines universal design this way; “Universal Design is a framework for the design of places, things, information, communication and policy to be usable by the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. Most simply, Universal Design is human-centered design of everything with everyone in mind.
Designing for everyone is very important because we are all different and do not have the same needs. Some of us are tall while others are shorter. Some of us are small while others are larger. Some of us have visual or hearing limitations and some of us are wheelchair users. Universal Design takes into account that all of us, with our differences, use the same places and things and it addresses all our varying needs.
I have two siblings (my sister Claire who was a wheelchair user and passed away in 2007 from complications with multiple sclerosis) and my dear brother who also has multiple sclerosis and is a wheelchair user as well. I know from experience that it can be a challenge to find hotel accommodations that are truly accessible. Unless you explain in detail what your needs are when booking your room you may meet with surprises. My brother once booked an “accessible” room but could not use the bathroom because the door was too narrow to enter with a wheelchair.
We can find web-sites to help people who vacation with their pets but it’s difficult to find a resource that can help people with disabilities find accommodations. I find there is a great need for such a resource. I encourage your comments if you have found lodging or other public places that fit your needs well. Included on this site is a community interactive map where you can post your favorite accessible places. It is my hope that together we can find some great wheelchair accessible hotels and places of interest to post on this blog while attempting to raise the level of design from minimum ADA standards to Universal Design in our public spaces.
Happy traveling to all. We are all universal travelers.
Thank you for visiting myuniversaltraveler.com.
I was encouraged to hear that the site is easy to read. I understand that blues on yellow read well.
Browsers can make a difference sometimes. Firefox has most of the browser market and I suspect many web-designers design with that browser in mind.
Here’s hoping more web-sites will comply with all our limitations.
Alice @ “myuniversaltraveler.com
Thank you, I’ve enjoyed reading your articles. Do you think you’ll be posting on this subject again soon? If so, I’ll be back.
Interesting. Thanks for that, however that is not the limit of my appreciation. I am afflicted with color blindness (deuteranopia in my case). I mostly use Safari browser (unsure if that changes anything), and far too many websites are hard to comprehend on account of a poor range of colors used. In your case, as the selection of colors is fine, the site is amazingly tidy and easy to read.
Our family vacationed at the Rancho Cordova inn and had a great stay here. I just wanted to share that with you. Let me know your thoughts about this hotel
Dear Daren,
It would be fine to share information from MyUniversalTraveler with your students.
Thank you for your interest.
Alice Francis @ myuniversaltraveler.com
This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing websites that know the value of providing a high quality resource for free. It is like the phrasewhat goes around comes around routine.
I really like following your blog as the articles are so simple to read and follow. Excellent. Please keep up the good work. Thanks.
Kudos for posting such a useful weblog. Your blog isn’t only informative but also very artistic too. There normally are extremely few people who can write not so simple articles that creatively. Keep up the great work !!
hi it is my first comment on this website and in the begining I would like to thank you for the great information, which I were able to find in this and all previous posts , it really helped me very much. I will definitely iclude this blog on my google reader
Also, I would like to ask – don’t you mind if I will quate some information from your blog since I am writing articles for the Associated Content, Ezine and other articles directories (this is my part time job)? It would really help me with some of mine articles. Of course, I will mention your blog title or URL (not all articles directories allows URL’s , so I can’t 100% promise that you will get a direct link to your website).
I admit, I have not been on this webpage in a long time… however it was another joy to see It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even professionals. I thank you to help making people more aware of possible issues.
Hi Alice,
It’s been said: If you want a BIG opportunity, find a BIG problem…
You are providing a real service here; good for you!
Best, Patrick
Thanks for dropping a line at myuniversaltraveler.com. I know the posts are only a couple paragraphs long but this is intentional. I try to keep them short because I know how busy folks are these days trying to sift through information in our information age. Also, when recommending hotel accommodations for people with disabilities, I thought it best to only highlight a few specifics and give the reader enough information to decide whether or not to go directly to the hotel’s web site.
I appreciate your comments and thanks again,
Alice
Thank you for interest in my blog. I hope this helps you to subscribe.
Scroll down the left margin past the various posts, categories, pages, blogroll, … until you find the Meta box. In that box look for Entries RSS and click on it. When the page opens, you can choose how you wish to subscribe. You’ll find it at the top of that page.
I hope that works. I’ll try to set the site up so the rss feed is easier. I’m learning along the way.
Please let me know if you still have trouble.
I normally dont stop to leave comments, however it is hard to find good information on this topic today. You did a great job in this blog post and I may just go read your other blog posts now. Keep writing!
Hi awsome blog im from scotland but im moving to manchester i found this on the msn search engine,keep the good work up i will add you to my favoroties.
Great points raised here. I am glad to you for that, even so you deserve more thanks than that. I suffer from color sightlessness. I mainly use Opera web browser and regard a number of web sites are baffling to comprehend thanks to a incautious range of colours used. Nonetheless, here, as the range of colours is good, the design is highly tidy and pleasant to comprehend. I don’t know whether it was a planned and conscious undertaking, or just the ‘luck of the draw’, but I nevertheless thank you.
Leila, I tried to find a reliable on-line source that would direct me to hotels that my disabled brother and sister could use. I found out that there are very few web-sites that deal with disability issues. That’s the reason I started my own blog. Wished I had more time to do it justice, but, I do try to direct readers to other websites and blogs that are doing a great job in this field of interest.
Hi, Love the post and the blog. Quick question for you.. Where can i subscribe to the blog so I can get updated when you update your blog? Thanks and keep up the good work.
Hi I’m searching the internet for blogs with info that might be useful for my daughter. I just came across your blog by luck! I’ve bookmarked you and I’ll be back again soon, thanks!
Hey Alice, I’m the lady you met on the plane Reno to Boise. Your site is awesome and I will be forwarding it to my friends in need of this wonderful information. Continued success and keep in touch…never know when a kindred spirit needs company to a music festival!!
Ed gave my your site and I really think you are on to something important. Regarding the Portland area you may want to check with the MS State chapter as they were planning to do an extensive survey of accessibility in the area. It’s always fun to read about favorite places. Kennedy School is great and feels like it’s own little world – plus I have a friend who attended school there! Keep up the great work. It will be fun to watch this grow!
Cindy
Good job! I’ve passed this site on to members of my MS support group. Let me know if I can be of any help. Brother Ed