On her popular social media accounts, under the moniker Blind Girl Adventures, Sassy Wyatt shares snippets of her life in England and her travels. In a video titled, “How does a blind girl dance on a cruise ship?,” Wyatt busts a move while pumping her white cane in the air. In another post, she talks about navigating the airport with her now-retired guide dog, Ida. In photos, she poses on the beach, in front of the Eiffel Tower and on a charming street in Edinburgh.
As someone who has been blind for more than a decade, Wyatt has not only learned how to navigate the world without sight, but she has also dedicated her work to helping others — from travel advisors to destination leaders to the general public — understand the importance of accessible travel. As Wyatt aptly puts it: “My mission is to empower everyone to feel confident around disability. Accessibility is for everyone.”
With a similar heart for adventure, St. Louis-based Sue Slater has also traveled across the globe without sight since 1982. As a seasoned traveler and a travel advisor at her company, Presto Magic Travel, she calls herself “a travel magician” because she makes travel magic happen for any client, including those who are visually impaired and blind.
From practical booking tips to trip-planning insights and management pointers, these two travel pros share their personal experiences and highlight best practices for travel advisors to better serve visually impaired clients.
Make Sure Your Website Is Accessible
First impressions always matter when your business encounters a potential new client. Today, that first impression is often made online. That means it’s important for your company’s website to follow accessibility guidelines, such as using alternative text to describe photos and ensuring content is navigable for keyboard users. If all of that sounds like a foreign language, web developers and engineers can help.
“That is priority No. 1 because disabled people require information — and blind people, especially, require information,” Wyatt said.
As for social media, Wyatt suggested adding alt-text to describe your photos. That way, blind social media users can still enjoy your content as their screen reader tells them all about your photos.
It’s Ok To Ask If Someone Needs Help
Let’s say your well-executed, accessible website draws in a blind client, and they want to visit your office. When they arrive, Wyatt recommends trying to stay at ease.
“It’s about seeing a disabled person as a person and not panicking. We might be wearing cochlear implants, we might be in a wheelchair, and we might even be using a walking cane,” she said. “It’s just about approaching the topic of, ‘How can I best serve you?’ Because at the end of the day, a travel advisor is there to support, to make the experience of travel the best it can be, and inclusion and accessibility is just a part of that.”
Perhaps you notice the client is using a white cane to find a chair in your waiting room. It’s OK to ask if they need help — just be sure to really listen to their answer and do what they request.
Think Deeply About Accessibility at the Destination
Now, let’s say the client loves your accessible website, they’ve arrived at your office, taken a seat and are ready to talk about destinations. Start by asking about where they’d like to go and learning about their level of mobility. You’ll need to determine if the client is traveling alone, with a sighted companion or with a guide dog, Slater explained.
“Each person who is visually impaired or blind is different, just like every sighted person that you send on a vacation is different,” Slater said. “There’s no generalization.”
As the travel advisor, do your due diligence to determine if the suggested destination is accessible. Are there stairs into a lobby? Are Braille menus available? Can staff help guests order meals? If the information doesn’t exist online, Wyatt recommends calling the property to check the specifications.
The details can help make or break the trip for your client. Remember that your client will need guided assistance in the airport, which is especially important when there’s a language barrier, so be sure to arrange that in advance, Slater said. When booking the overnight accommodations, let the property know a visually impaired guest will be coming and will need an orientation to the room so they can learn important things like where to find the towels and how to change the thermostat.
If they’re going on a cruise, try to book the guest’s room near an elevator, and be sure to research which decks they should be familiar with, she added. If they’re going to a resort, see if you can find a venue that offers golf cart service to help people get around.
Identify the Challenges in Advance
Keep in mind that the rules are different once you leave the United States.
“There is no ADA in Europe or the Caribbean as there is in the United States,” Slater said, adding that clients can expect cobblestone streets, a lack of banisters and few curb cuts in those areas. “There may be additional challenges that they may not find in the United States.”
That goes for guide dogs, too. Guide dogs are incredible, brilliant animals, as Wyatt can attest from eight years of working with Ida, her black lab-retriever mix. But there are different accessibility laws around the world that govern their use. The traveler may be familiar with rules in their home country, but those regulations can change across borders. Some countries require certificates, veterinarian paperwork, vaccination records and more. Both experts recommend working closely with your client to do this research to make sure there are no travel snafus.
Identify the Opportunities, Too
As for opportunities to help your client make the most of their travel, Slater suggests researching museums in advance and looking for contact information for the venue’s education department. You can share that email address with your client and encourage them to reach out to ask for any special tours or opportunities.
If your client is interested in a cruise, check to see if the ship offers a service called Scootaround. The organization provides wheelchairs and scooters, as well as audio describers. An audio describer is a person who accompanies a blind traveler to describe scenes to them and even take photos for them. Working with an audio describer can make the experience of attending a juggling act, a magic show or a ballet performance even more meaningful.
“It enables people, including myself, to see all of the shows. They are your visual eyes during the cruise,” Slater said.
Slater also recommended the apps Be My Eyes and Be My AI. Be My Eyes allows a sighted person to look through a device’s camera and describe things, such as how to use the remote control, TV or microwave in your room. As for Be My AI, this app enables you to share a photo, then have the app describe the image. As Slater explained, it “enriches the travel experience.”
Treat Others as You’d Like To Be Treated
Slater encourages fellow travel advisors “to realize that a person that is visually impaired or blind can enjoy travel the same way that a sighted person has.” She and Wyatt both know this firsthand.
Ultimately, Wyatt said, it all comes down to the golden rule when you’re working with a blind client.
“Think about if you lived with a disability, how would you want to be treated? Because if I’m walking up to a travel agent’s door, and I’m having a conversation with a travel advisor, and you see me with a guide dog or a long white cane, you may be a bit hesitant around how to speak to me and how to interact with me,” Wyatt said. “People get caught up in their own minds of, ‘Am I saying the right thing? Am I not saying the right thing?’ Then it becomes an internal battle and struggle of hesitancy. The way I see it is that you’ve just got to treat us how you would like to be treated in that situation.”
Originally appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of The Compass magazine
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