Accessible travel solutions for visual impaired persons Erasmus Project

Project Title

Accessible travel solutions for visual impaired persons

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Access for disadvantaged

Project Summary

Travel by people with disabilities, also known as “disabled travel” or “accessible travel,” is on the rise. The travel industry is waking up to the special needs of travelers with disabilities by providing more services and greater accommodation. Meanwhile, the sheer abundance of information on accessible travel is astounding — much of it generated by travelers with disabilities themselves.

The European with Disabilities Act guarantees that travelers with disabilities receive equal treatment under the law. While this would be the case in a perfect world, it doesn’t always work out that way in real life, especially in foreign countries where accessibility regulations vary widely. Despite having common sense, considerable public sentiment and strength in numbers, travelers with disabilities frequently face inadequate facilities, prejudice, misinformation, general hassles and higher prices than other travelers.
World Health Organization estimates 285 million people to be visually impaired worldwide. Out of which 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision. However, they are not travelling at the same rate as people without disabilities and the public, stakeholders and the government have the right to address the difficulties and create an environment for the visually impaired travelers.
People with vision impairments have the right to participate fully in the community and enjoy the same quality of life as people without disabilities. However, they are not travelling at the same rate as people without disabilities. The reasons for such low participation rates are not yet clear. But one of the reasons could be the difficulty and sometimes harrowing nightmare to travel in unfamiliar. Although they are a minority, they also deserve the same recognition as everyone else and to consider it as our social responsibility to create awareness among the public about the difficulties the visually disabled face in general and then help to increase the independence level among them. This is possible only when the experiences of such travelers are identified and addressed properly. About 90% of the world’s visually impaired live in developing countries and 82% of people living with blindness are aged 50 and above. In Malaysia, the recent statistics produced by the Department of Social Welfare in 2010, shows that the total number of blind/visually impaired people who have registered has increased from 26,155 in 2009 to 27,582 in 2010 and has been steadily increasing over the last few years.
Main project objective is trough development of barrier-free tourism OER and cross-traffic navigation solutions, to make traveling accessible and safety for blind and visually impaired people, the AST for VIP project aim is to improve the mobility and quality of life of these people all around Europe.
Project specific objective:
• using innovative approaches for access for safety and security traveling for visual impaired;
• improve the level of key competences and skills, with particular regard to relevance for adult persons with visual impaired and their contribution to a cohesive society, in particular through increased opportunities for learning and through strengthened cooperation between the world of non formal education, traveling and training;
• identifying ways to implement innovative non formal teaching and learning methods to respond to the needs of adults persons with visual problems during traveling;
• developing actions to facilitate inter-generational transfer of knowledge;
• describing the ways in which assessment methodologies and procedures can embed all forms of learning, and facilitate the validation of skills and competences acquired prior to safety traveling;
• enhance the international dimension of non formal education and training, in particular through cooperation between Programme Country institutions;
• planning the progressive roll-out of project deliverables leading to systemic impact.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 95182 Eur

Project Coordinator

Mreza za Dozivotno Ucenje & Country: MK

Project Partners

• ASOCIATIA BABILON TRAVEL
• ASOCIACION IT SOLUTIONS FOR ALL