Features
Part of Accessible tour operators: the boundary question that decides who you hire
Photographing an accessible tour: what belongs in the frame, and what does not
Photographing an accessible tour means framing the threshold, the ramp and the bathroom with a rule in shot, while skipping the posed group photo.
What to take away
- Shoot the threshold, the deployed ramp, the bathroom transfer space and the route surface. Skip the posed group shot.
- Put a folding rule in every access frame. A tape measure beats a caption that says "spacious".
- Consent is written, specific and reversible, and the day must still work for someone who declines.
- Record the measured width, the date and who confirmed it. A photograph without numbers ages badly.
- Caption any video. Verbatim captions, not paraphrased, because a guide's ramp answer loses its meaning when reworded.
A smiling group on a boardwalk proves nothing about whether the next reader can do the trip. The boardwalk entrance with a tape measure across it proves almost everything. This list is for documenting a tour product, not the people buying it.
What not to shoot
Half of this job is leaving frames out.
- The hero group shot.It flatters the operator and tells a reader nothing about access.
- Anything staged.A ramp posed at a flattering angle hides the lip it lands on.
- Transfers, personal care, medication, or anyone's bodywithout a specific request for that exact frame. The default is no.
- A "representative" bathroomfrom a different property. If you did not measure it, it does not go in.
- The view.The view is why they came. It is not why they can.
Consent before anything else
Ask in writing before the trip, and again on the day. State where the images will appear, for how long, and that a person may withdraw later.
Build the day so declining costs nobody anything. If the only way to opt out is to sit apart from the group, the consent was not real.
The shots that carry information
- The entrance threshold, square on, with a rule or a known object for scale.
- The vehicle ramp deployed, from the side, showing the slope and the ground it lands on.
- The bathroom, wide enough to show the transfer space and the grab bar positions.
- The route surface, close and low, so gravel, cobbles and gaps are visible.
- The rest points, with seating and shade, because their spacing decides the day.
Each one answers a question a reader would otherwise have to ask by telephone.
What to record beside the image
Note the date, the measured width, the gradient if you can take it, and the name of the person who confirmed the detail.
Write down what you could not photograph as well. A missing shot of the accessible entrance usually means there was not one.
Kit, and getting it through the airport
Travel light enough to carry your own bag and help nobody. Batteries, tripods and tools are what cause delays. Managing your own kit through every part of the day applies to the photographer as much as to anyone else on the trip.
TSA's searchable list of what may be carried covers thousands of items and gives the carry-on and checked answer for each. Check it for anything with a blade, a battery or a compressed gas cylinder before you leave home. The final call still rests with the officer at the checkpoint.
Video, and the obligation that comes with it
If the operator wants video, captions are part of the deliverable, not an extra.
The NIDCD's overview of captions for deaf and hard of hearing viewers distinguishes open from closed captions and explains the difference between edited and verbatim captions. Verbatim is what an access review needs, because paraphrasing a guide's answer about ramp gradients loses the answer.
Filing and handing over
Deliver the images with the measurements attached, and a plain note on which frames are staged and which are not.
The comparison work these images feed is in the sixteen kinds of operator, and the equivalent brief for buildings rather than tours is the hotel field list.
Common questions
Can I photograph inside a museum on a tour?
Ask the site, not the operator. Rules differ by gallery and by exhibition, and the operator's permission does not travel past the door.
Should I photograph people at all?
Only with consent, and only where the person is doing something the reader needs to see. A face adds nothing to a bathroom measurement.
What if the operator wants only flattering images?
Say up front that you will photograph what is there. An operator who refuses that has told you something useful about the product.
How many photographs does one venue need?
Six to ten purposeful frames beat sixty. Five things to check before you go:
- Entrance
- route
- bathroom
- seating
- vehicle
- and whatever went wrong.
