Guide To Serving Hotel Guests With Disabilities*
General Etiquette
- Speak directly to a person with a disability rather than through a companion
or sign language interpreter.
- Offer to shake hands. People with limited hand use or who wear an artificial
limb can usually shake hands. (Shaking hands with the left hand is an acceptable
greeting.)
- Identify yourself and others who may be with you when interacting with
a person who is blind or low vision.
- Identify the person to whom you are speaking especially when conversing
in a group.
- Wait until an offer of assistance is accepted, then listen to or ask for
instructions of how to help.
- Remember that service animals are working, and you should not interact
with them as you would with a pet.
- Treat adults as adults. Address people who have disabilities by their first
names if extending the same familiarity to others.
- Listen attentively when you're talking with a person who has difficulty
speaking. Be patient and wait for the person to finish; ask questions that
require short answers; repeat what you have understood and allow the person
to respond.
- Place yourself at eye level with a person who uses a wheelchair or crutches
to facilitate communication.
- Tap a person who is deaf on the shoulder or wave your hand to get their
attention; speak directly to them without raising your voice; keep hands and
cigarettes away from your mouth.
- Relax. Feel free to use accepted, common expressions such as "See
you later," or "Did you hear about that?"
- Ask questions of the individual you are assisting when you are unsure of
what to do.
- A person who uses a wheelchair often considers his or her chair as
part of their body space. Refrain from leaning on or moving their chair
without permission.
- Refrain from asking a person how they acquired their disability. It
is not their job to educate you.
- Refrain from interrupting a person with speech impairment or finishing
their sentences. Be patient and let them complete their idea or request
without interruption.
- Be sensitive to people who lip-read by facing the light source and keep
hands, cigarettes or food away from your mouth when speaking.
Guest Assistance
- Check to see that the accessible path of travel from the parking space
to all accessible features is unobstructed by construction, furniture etc.
- Be informed about your accessible rooms, make sure of details such as roll-in
showers, bath benches, and inspect features regularly to be sure they are
in good repair.
- Assist persons with visual impairments to sign registration information
by placing a card or signature guide along the line.
- Allow persons with visual impairments to take your arm when assisting them
to a new location.
- Orient individuals to guest room features by detailed verbal instructions.
If they continue to have difficulty, ask if they would like you to "show"
them using their hands. Be sure to release their hands periodically so they
can "explore" the lay-out of the feature. (items they may want described
include thermostats, lay-out of room, remote controls, hotel telephones, etc.)
- If your hotel provides accommodations for persons who are deaf, such as
a TTY machine. Make sure where the equipment is kept. Some hotels store them
with maintenance facility location. (items may include doorbell lights, TTY
devices, etc.) Know if your television can receive captioning and advertise
this on your website.
- Move obstructions that block the path of travel -- re-evaluate as the hotel
becomes more crowded.
- Card keys should provide tactile information so the user who is blind can
determine which end of the face of the card should be inserted into the lock.
- Doorplates with raised numbers and Braille help guests find their rooms.
- Guests who are blind may ask you to orient them to the exercise facility.
Links to Additional Resources:
Learning about
Blindness: Quality Hotel Customer Service
One
Stop Manual
Analysis
of Hotel/Motel Usage by and Needs of Travelers with Disabilities
Breaking
Down Barriers: Achieving Great Service for Guests with Disabilities
American's with Disabilities
Act: Title III, Making Your Restaurant Accessible for People with Disabilities
Provided by:
The Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities
P. O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711
512-463-5739; or Dial 711 for Relay Services
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/disabilities
*Source: Office of Disability Employment Policy
