Implementation of Universal Design and accessibility to air travel services for the visually impaired
Niemi, Tuomo (2025)
2025
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025091224645
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025091224645
Tiivistelmä
Air travel has become commonplace and is now a popular form of travel around the world. However, the availability and accessibility of services for certain categories of passengers need to be improved, regardless of what the service is. Products and services are designed to be available and suitable for all customer and user groups, regardless of their background. The purpose of this case study was to examine how the principles of universal design and accessibility have been implemented in air travel for visually impaired people and in related services provided by airlines and airports.
The research material was collected by means of an electronic questionnaire in Finnish and Swedish which was sent to the target groups of the study by the Finnish Association of the Visually Impaired and Förbundet Finlands Svenska Synskadade rf. A total of 19 people participated in the survey. The case study was conducted as mixed methods research. A qualitative and quantitative research approach were applied to the examination and analysis of the material. The main results of the research showed that basic services regarding the process starting with booking of a flight ticket and ending with boarding of the aircraft were in order. According to the answers, the visually impaired flew abroad or for holidays but used other transport for shorter domestic trips. However, most respondents indicated that they would like to travel by air as independently as possible.
However, the results showed that the respondents´ experiences varied according to the degree of their visual impairments. There were differences in the availability of airlines online service platforms concerning the possibility of notifying visual impairment or its degree and the service needs in connection with the airline ticket.
Most often, the lack of communication and visual clues made it difficult to use services or to find services independently at airports. According to the answers, there is still room for improvement at airports in passenger communication, signs, and signage. In this material, some respondents reported that they had been treated differently from sighted passengers and that their service needs and disability had not always been considered. The ability of the airport staff to meet and guide the visually impaired person and their ability to identify the passenger's real need for assistance were considered important.
This research focused on universal design and availability of pre-flight services, so that potential studies on the same theme may relate to the experiences and perceptions of visually impaired passengers regarding in-flight services and their availability. The findings of this research may be integrated with existing data from other studies on the same theme.
The research material was collected by means of an electronic questionnaire in Finnish and Swedish which was sent to the target groups of the study by the Finnish Association of the Visually Impaired and Förbundet Finlands Svenska Synskadade rf. A total of 19 people participated in the survey. The case study was conducted as mixed methods research. A qualitative and quantitative research approach were applied to the examination and analysis of the material. The main results of the research showed that basic services regarding the process starting with booking of a flight ticket and ending with boarding of the aircraft were in order. According to the answers, the visually impaired flew abroad or for holidays but used other transport for shorter domestic trips. However, most respondents indicated that they would like to travel by air as independently as possible.
However, the results showed that the respondents´ experiences varied according to the degree of their visual impairments. There were differences in the availability of airlines online service platforms concerning the possibility of notifying visual impairment or its degree and the service needs in connection with the airline ticket.
Most often, the lack of communication and visual clues made it difficult to use services or to find services independently at airports. According to the answers, there is still room for improvement at airports in passenger communication, signs, and signage. In this material, some respondents reported that they had been treated differently from sighted passengers and that their service needs and disability had not always been considered. The ability of the airport staff to meet and guide the visually impaired person and their ability to identify the passenger's real need for assistance were considered important.
This research focused on universal design and availability of pre-flight services, so that potential studies on the same theme may relate to the experiences and perceptions of visually impaired passengers regarding in-flight services and their availability. The findings of this research may be integrated with existing data from other studies on the same theme.