Vinny - The guide dog with the golden eyes - The Accessible Link #11
Guide dog content inside :-)
Hello everyone,
I feel complete; I have a guide dog in my life again.
His name is Vinny, and he is my partner's guide dog. After intense training, he moved in this week, shortly after his 2nd birthday. He is a black Labrador-Golden Retriever mix and has stunning golden eyes.
His predecessor, Mercer, was with us for more than eleven years, travelled so much that he needed two pet passports for all the stamps, and guided my partner in dozens of countries and on several continents. They often travelled alone for business trips, but we went on holiday together.
Travelling with a guide dog is an adventure sometimes. It's also an example of how accessibility and a good customer experience can be easy if people understand the dog's role. Being welcoming to people who travel with a guide dog or any other assistance dog doesn't cost a penny, and some people still get it wrong - from access refusal to inappropriate behaviour from staff.
Distracting a guide dog when he is in the harness and working is not okay. Some staff lack training when it comes to guide dogs. On the other hand, we had hotels where the staff was excited and motivated to welcome a guide dog; they even had a dog bed and a bowl when we arrived (that was Pullman in Liverpool).
By the way, my partner commuted for over ten years by train without booking, also called "turn up and go". He never books assistance. Our local station is staffed and has a ticket office that steps in if nobody else is there to assist. He tells the dog to find "the desk". That means finding anything that looks like a reception, a check-in counter or a ticket office. That's how he finds staff at places like airports, train stations and hotels.
I have not read anything about this scenario in any equality impact assessment of the ticket office closure consultations. I fear there is a severe lack of understanding of how disabled people travel, how they identify staff at stations, and how this will affect their lives. Even the best guide dogs need some anchor points when travelling. As do humans.
Some interesting links
It's official now. The Victorians are not the only ones to blame for the inaccessibility of railway infrastructure - Network Rail confesses: We’re building 17 inaccessible footbridges.
The CAA published its annual report on airport performance of assisted travel. My client East Midlands Airport received top marks for assisted travel ; the same is true for London City Airport, my home airport, where I'm an advisory panel member.
Imagine you spend $ 41.5 million for a new library, and that's still not enough to make it accessible (because often money isn't the problem, priorities are) - Hunters Point Library architects sued over building's accessibility issues
Something to watch
'We take joy in our different experiences ... and I think that tends to surprise people' — Anna Landre shares how she is fighting for rights for her community across the globe.
Something #DisabilityTwitter is talking about
My favourite example of able-splaining is when non-disabled people with no wheelchair skills want to tell me how to wheel over a gap or a step. It's a disaster in the making if I listen to them.
1300 people responded to Tanni Grey-Thompson's poll question, "How many disabled people out there have had a non-disabled person 'ablesplain" something to you? 45.1% said "regularly, 26.7% responded "Sometimes", and only 9.3% said "Never", while the rest (19%) were people who broke their foot once (very often how ablesplainers begin to explain their competence). The original tweet is here.
Some final words
Inaccessibility is a choice. Failure to accommodate disabled people is a choice. Exclusion of disabled people is a choice. Ableism is a choice.
(Gregory Mansfield) The Accessible Link is a reader-supported publication. If you know someone who would like to read this newsletter, give them a gift subscription.
Who is writing this newsletter?
I’m Christiane Link, and I improve the customer experience in aviation, transport, and travel. I worked as a journalist for over two decades and travelled extensively for business and leisure. I’m a wheelchair user. If you want to read more from me, follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Bluesky or Mastodon. You can also reply to this email if you want to contact me.