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Disneyland rolls out new audio guide for blind visitors
Disneyland on Wednesday unveiled a new enhanced audio guide to help visually impaired visitors in the park. The guide uses GPS to trigger descriptions of the park, including places like Main Street, pictured here.
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Disneyland rolls out new audio guide for blind visitors
Disneyland rolls out new audio guide for blind visitors
Main Street is busy and noisy. It’s packed with people, strolling by the classic old-time storefronts. Horse-drawn trolleys and old jalopies carry camera-clad visitors. If you’re blind, it’s hard to tell what’s going on. That’s why the Disneyland today unveiled a free, handheld audio device, which uses GPS to trigger descriptions of the park’s outdoor areas.
"The central plaza near Sleeping Beauty Castle is at the heart of Disneyland," the device tells visually-impaired park visitors as they walk into the park. "Situated at the end of Main Street, the plaza offers a captivating, close-up view of the fairy tale castle…"
"It’s not really designed as a way-finding tool," says Mark Jones, who is charge of services for guests with disabilities at the Disney parks. "So it’s not like a car GPS that literally gets you from your home to the store, but it does give you information as you traverse your way through the park. So you at least know what’s available to you, where you’re standing. Architectural features, a quick rundown of what merchandise locations are close by, a full listing of all of the attractions in the area."
Jones says until now, there have only been audio devices to describe the interiors of the rides.
Julian Vargas, who’s been visually impaired since birth, tried out the device. He says it’s helpful with describing the various parts of the park, but he’d like to see it go a step further.
"I would love to see this take advantage of the GPS capabilities a lot more," he says. "For example, when it’s telling me where I am, I would love to know that, perhaps, the Tiki Room is to my right or that the Matterhorn is to my left. It would even be nice if it told me the Matterhorn is 50 feet away, the Tiki Room is 23 feet away, that sort of thing."
Park officials say they’re working on the technology to maybe someday do that. They say they’re also exploring the idea of maybe creating the audio guide for a smart phone app.
They plan to release a similar audio guide for the visually impaired for Disney California Adventure next year.
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