Lazzus is an assistant that accompanies blind and visually impaired people on their journeys by creating an auditory field of vision. People can live better experiences as in their daily lives as during their travels. When they are going to go or to travel anywhere, they can do it on their own, without the help of any other people. Lazzus is a travel partner that informs you where you are in every moment also can indicate the best route to tourist destinations or establishments of interest. Mobile app available for any device. Three ways of operating: 360º mode: The app recognizes all near, in radium of 360º such establishments or places of interest with clear information about distance and direction. Flashlight mode: The app indicates what is there, in the directions mobile is pointing. Transport mode: Transport mode activates automatically when the blind or visually impaired person is travelling by bus or by car. It indicates where the person exactly is in each moment, to avoid the feeling of disorientation.

WeWALK Smart Cane is a revolutionary smart cane developed for the visually impaired. WeWALK attaches to the traditional white cane, transforming it into an innovative smart cane. This technology increases visually impaired people’s independence and promotes full- participation in society. WeWALK Smart Cane provides more secure travel to visually impaired people with obstacle detection and makes traveling experience easier and more independent with navigation and public transportation integrations. eWALK detects obstacles above chest level with ultrasonic sensor and warns with vibration. Gives turn-by-turn and clockwise navigation. Navigate to all nearby bus stops and access bus timetables. Learn what’s around you like popular places, restaurants, pubs, and cafes Talk to Alexa Voice Assistant When paired with WeWALK application, actions such as getting navigation can be performed on WeWALK easily without taking the phone at hand Each integration developed for WeWALK brings new features with software updates. WeWALK is integrated with Voice Assistant and Google Maps.

Context I’m a visual impaired person that likes to travel a lot. My sight is about 7% of the sight of a typical person. During my journeys I visited a lot of countries (I stopped counting at 50), I met a lot of people and explored their traditions. Trying not to forget all my experiences and in order to help others to travel easier and safer, together with my friend Corina, we created a travel blog: babilontravel.net. It contains a lot of information about our journeys, nature, traditions, emotions, food of course and many other things. Between them, there are two articles referring to how to organize journeys, as a person with visual impairment, or typical. Plan: Plan your trip ahead of time. It is ideal to make reservations six months in advance. Increasingly, the three months in advance, as I am used to planning my escapades, are no longer enough. Generally, booking a hotel online does not cost anything and it can be modified later for free, until a few days before check-in. Not the same is the case with airline tickets. Here any subsequent modification costs and not little. Try to plan the out-of-season trip, but in a climate-appropriate time frame. I have always been of the opinion that a successful journey is one that combines relaxation (at the beach, pool, skiing, etc.) with the exploration of new territories, natural, urban or human. That is why I recommend you consider a few days of sweet lighthouses, spiced with others to visit cities, historical, architectural, artistic, natural, etc. If the purpose of the trip is for business, don't forget to plan at least half a day to visit the city you are in. Otherwise you risk visiting the same city several times without knowing that you have passed there (not a joke but a real case). With the start dates above you will need to set: Organize: Transport If you do not change the continent and the country / countries you want to visit are not far away (eg Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria), the train or bus seems the best solutions. For longer distances, consider the aircraft. You will need to locate the most advantageous flights both in terms of price and location (skyscanner.com). Accommodation There are many accessible websites on the internet that offer you the possibility to book a hotel room online. When booking, keep in mind the following: - Read reviews from other tourists who have stayed at the hotel for which you want to make your reservation; - If you travel by car, consider the parking spaces at the hotel or in the vicinity and their price. Sometimes you will win if you choose a more expensive hotel, but with its own free parking space. - For a disabled tourist, the centrally located hotels, in historic areas, are the most suitable, but the access routes to them can be narrow and twisted. Therefore, it is sometimes preferable for a hotel located on the outskirts, which, at the same level of comfort, is much cheaper and which is close to the public transport. If you stay more than 2-3 days in one place, try to rent an It is much cheaper than a hotel room and, except for room service, it is much more comfortable. Personal tour guide To make the most of the time visiting various tourist locations, it is particularly useful to create a personal tour guide, which will include the sights to be visited, along with a brief description and useful information, such as operating hours, ticket price, address, etc. Using a text to speech application you can transform it into an audio guide.

My experience of traveling by plane With the purchase of a plane ticket, there was a column while purchasing for people with disabilities, and a colleague who was helping me to buy the ticket clicked that I was a visually impaired person and that I needed a personal assistant. The first time I went to the airport a friend of mine took me and left me at the counter and it was so from him, here I can only give a small suggestion. People who don't drive, regardless of friends or taxi drivers, can't help us much, because they are limited by the parking time, after every 10 minutes they will have to pay plus 100 denars fee. When he left me at the counter, I handed my passport at the counter and I explained that I need a personal assistant, and they themselves saw the ticket as well and helped me sit on the benches in front of the counter, so they informed me that a person/assistant would be with me to assist me with the boarding on the plane. it really was as they said, a guy who was very kind came over and took on all the responsibilities around me, so he took me to customs control, passport control through all the procedures we go through before we get on a plane. When he took me to the sitting place, he showed me the seat next to the window, because that's how the rules were for people with disabilities to sit by the window and before he left told me that the stewardesses are there if I need anything. Then one of the flight attendants came to explain to me all the safety rules, around the belt, lowering the breathing mask, and so on. During the trip, when the flight attendants walked near to my seat, they asked me if I needed anything. When we landed, all the passengers disembarked and one of the flight attendants came to pick me up, to hand me over to an assistant who had been provided by the Nuremberg airport, so we waited with him for my suitcase and went through passport control. He asked me who would wait for me and he was with me until he saw my brother who came to pick up me from the airport. I have another experience that I want to share. When I was returning from Germany to Macedonia by plane, I went through all the airport procedures as I wrote above, but when I landed in Macedonia and the flight attendant handed me over to the assistant who was supposed to take me to the man waiting for me, I came across an interesting situation. He came in a wheelchair and told me to sit down, I initially objected and explained that I was a visually impaired person, but that I could only walk hand in hand. The man's explanation was that it was easier for him, so I agreed not to bother him and he took me safely to the taxi driver who was waiting for me.

OrCam MyEye, the most advanced wearable assistive technology, provides independence by allowing access to visual information, conveyed by audio, on a tiny camera which can be attached to any pair of eyeglasses. Using AI technology, it instantly and discreetly reads printed and digital text aloud from any surface, recognizes faces, products, money notes and more, all in real time. The intuitive device is operated by using simple hand gestures and has more than 20 voice-activated commands. It is designed for all ages, can be used with any level of vision loss and does not require an internet connection. OrCam MyEye increase independence by allowing individuals to access to visual information (text, faces, products, colors), conveyed by audio. Implementation: How is it implemented? OrCam is being used in more than 36 countries and supports more than 20 languages. Read text: Including: newspapers, books, menus, signs, product labels and screens. Easy-to-Use: Intuitively responds to simple hand gestures Voice Commands: More than 20 intuitive voice-activated commands available for easy device use Recognize Faces: Real time identification of faces is seamlessly announced. Portable: Small, lightweight, and magnetically mounts onto virtually any eyeglass frame. Bluetooth: Connect with Bluetooth enabled devices, allowing for headphone or hearing aid use. Identify Products: Identification of products, enabling an independent shopping experience. Works Everywhere: Tiny, wireless, and does not require an internet connection. Recognize Barcodes: Hundreds of thousands of product barcodes can be instantly recognized.

It is a blog created by blind people in which they describe their personal experiences as travellers. They offer recommendations, experiences and advice by combining their knowledge as blind people with their great experience as travellers. Objectives: They seek to raise awareness of the need for tourism for all, an inclusive tourism: - To bring tourism closer to everyone, especially visually impaired people. - To make visible and to make society aware of the need for an inclusive tourism. - To inform and advise tourist destinations, travel agencies, tour operators..., of the social and economic benefits of making their products accessible. - To be an intermediary between clients and interested parties (travel agencies, tour operators, tourist destinations...) - Collaborate and advise on the implementation of materials and technologies that make the destinations accessible. Implementation: How is it implemented? They visit the tourist areas and try out first-hand transport, urban accessibility, hotel and restaurant establishments, and main tourist attractions. They then publish the information in their blog. They also collaborate with other publications in the disability sector in general, providing specific experiences for blind travellers. They have an extensive catalogue of travel experiences for the blind in Spain with their own ratings. In the audiophoto section they collect evocative sounds of nature recorded during their travels and describe some of their experiences https://blog.sixsense.travel/audiofotos/

Teatro Real Accesible is a free application that allows you to bring the plays performed at the Teatro Real closer to people with hearing or visual disabilities while complying with the Principles of Design for All and Universal Accessibility. Thanks to the application, it is possible to access the audio description of the play performed in complete synchronization with the staging. It is also possible to access the overtitling (very useful for people with hearing disabilities or who are far from the screens) and the program in accessible format. Implementation: How is it implemented? Download the mobile application and follow the instructions: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=es.sdos.teatror

TURESPAÑA is the public body, attached to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism through the Secretary of State for Tourism, responsible for the marketing of Spain as a travel destination in the world. Through its website it offers all kind of information about adapted tourism in Spain. All the information is available in pdf format to read online or download. https://www.spain.info/es/informacion-practica/turismo-accesible/ The website offers several accessible tourism guides organized by touristic attractions such as museums, restaurants, accommodations, nature areas, recreational, leisure activities, and destinations (Catalonia, Madrid, Galicia). All of them with comprehensive and detailed information on destinations for disabled people.

In the development of its Comprehensive Accessibility Plan, the Museo del Prado aims to ensure that all visitors with any type of physical, sensory or cognitive disability have standardised access to all public spaces, adapting its offer to their needs and interests and optimising the provision of reception services. Accessibility at 2 levels: Access to the facilities: - Free entrance for the disabled visitor and accompanying person - Preference in access to lockers and the building - Access allowed with guide dogs - Free and accessible lockers and cloakroom - Lifts and accessible toilets Accessibility to contents: - The Museum organises specific activities aimed at centres for people with intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Alzheimer's disease, or acquired brain damage - Museo del Prado periodically schedules visits, conferences and itineraries with Spanish Sign Language (LSE) interpreters and magnetic induction loops. - The exhibition “Hoy toca el Prado”, with relief reproductions of masterpieces from the collection and audio guide with audio description, continues its tour through various Spanish cities after its exhibition at the Prado Museum in 2015. - The Museum offers educational materials produced in adaptive and augmentative communication formats, such as pictograms or easy reading, developed in collaboration with various institutions working with people with disabilities. - Free loan of the following devices at the audio-guide counters: magnetic loop for audio-guide, sign-guide and audio-guide with audio-description

Atendo is a specialised service that guides, informs and facilitates passengers' access to and transit through stations, as well as assistance in getting on and off trains. Assistance can be requested by phone or through the Renfe Atendo mobile application The staff of the Atendo service, mobility assistants, is made up of people who have been duly trained, qualified and accustomed to the care of people with disabilities. The Attention and Assistance Service Atendo has been expanding its services since it was set up, offering passengers a greater number of accessible stations and trains, reduced notification times for requesting assistance, and permanent assistance services, without the need for notice, in the main stations. Atendo's Central Office is located in Madrid Atocha Cercanías and is open to the public from 6:00 to 24:00. It informs the customer about the accessibility of the railway services, access conditions to the trains and the facilities on board the train. Telephone: 91 774 40 40 Email: oca.accesibilidad@renfe.es

According to the European regulation (EC) 1107/2006 of the European Parliament, the airport facilities of the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport and the airlines that operate there, are committed to providing passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) and disabled persons, with a service of attention and assistance free of charge. Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport assists visually and hearing-impaired passengers, passengers with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and deaf and blind passengers who can only manage with the help of a companion". Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport has check-in machines, which are accessible for people with reduced mobility (PRM) without baggage. These machines help people with disabilities by providing them with boarding cards and seats on the plane. This saves them having to go to the check-in counters. On the other hand, the T4 also provides personalized service for visually impaired passengers, which consists of informing them of the status of their flights through messages received on their mobile phones The service of attention to people with reduced mobility at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport is a free service that works depending on whether the person to be attended is an entry or exit passenger: if it is an exit flight, the passenger is cited at the meeting point - indicated on the website of Aena-, at least two hours before the scheduled flight departure, so that there is sufficient time guaranteed as well as the quality of the service offered. Once the meeting takes place, the passenger will be attended and accompanied during the whole check-in process and in the security controls, helping him also with his hand luggage. In the case of an arrival flight, the passenger will have to wait for his assistance inside the aircraft, so that he will be helped to disembark and pick up his luggage, accompanying him later to the meeting point he decides within the airport facilities.

The National Institution Museum of the Macedonian Struggle for Independence was established by the Decision brought by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia on July 31, 2008. The construction of the museum began in 2008 and it lasted three years. The Museum officially opened on the 20th Anniversary of Independence of the RM on September 8, 2011. It is located in a building with a net area of 6,435 square meters net area, and the exhibition facilities are spread over 2,000 square meters. The Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, being a specialized museum of historical exhibitions, was originally aimed to present the historical, cultural and revolutionary traditions of Macedonia and the Macedonian people in their perennial struggle to create a national state on the Balkans. It is a documented, contemporary and an objective directorial tool of the most important events and processes in the recent history of Macedonia. The historical exhibits display all ordeals suffered by the Macedonian people in the exercise of its libertarian vision, the original idea of the revolutionary struggle for the liberation of Macedonia, unification and the creation of an independent Macedonian state. Also, the museum displays reveal the struggling agony the Macedonian people experienced, their resistance against the communist dictatorship, sacrificing their lives for an independent, united and democratic state. The central place in the lobby of the building is occupied by the Declaration of proclamation of independence of the Republic of Macedonia, which was placed in the Museum on the opening day of the museum. Accessibility The building of the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle was built according to all modern standards of accessibility. The main entrance of the Museum is easily accessible for people with disabilities. The facility has elevators and toilets for disabled persons. The exhibition rooms and the lobby contain many resting spots. The museum has two carts for disabled persons that are available for use. For the blind and visually impaired a catalog of the Museum exhibition printed in Braille is available. Since its establishing in 2011, the museum has made significant efforts to address the needs of visually impaired people. In course of 2012, in cooperation with national association of blind, the museum has conducted training for museum employees, how to guide visually impaired people. The museum management has also decided to aloud some of the museum items to be available to be accessed directly by hands,they have produced catalogue in braille alphabet, and they have offered their facilities free of charge for organisations and institutions dealing with impaired people. For any special requirements related to the visit the visitors can reach the museum on the provided contact numbers on the web site.

The School for Visually Impaired Children and Youth "Dimitar Vlahov" is the only institution in the entire country where primary and secondary vocational education of visually impaired students is conducted. In addition, the school has a student dormitory that satisfies the capacity of about 90 beds and which, in addition to visually impaired students, accommodates students from regular high schools who come from inside, thus DURDMOV promotes social inclusion, overcoming prejudice and discrimination, spreading of equal values. The school employs 7 special educators, 4 typhoid pedagogues, 2 psychologists, 20 subject teachers, medical, technical and administrative staff. The school cooperates with many institutions within the country, but also outside its borders. VISION AND MISSION During its decades, our school has tirelessly realized its educational and cultural mission: The School for Rehabilitation of Visually Impaired Children and Youth has existed for 60 years. Its task and goal is to educate and rehabilitate children and youth with impaired vision to the point of independence for professional and personal life. The ultimate goal is the integration of these children in all spheres of social life and action. All this is achieved through the monitoring of primary and secondary vocational education. The methods used are tailored to the needs arising from the psychophysical abilities of children and young people. These include methods for the blind, visually impaired, and children with combined disabilities. We are a school that nurtures mutual respect, equality, security, motivation and ethnic tolerance. The school is: ensuring quality education of students, using modern methods and forms of work (group and team work, research, active learning ...) which encourages the development of general culture; encouraging individuality among students and teachers; preparing students for lifelong learning; encouraging and enable continuous professional development of employees; supporting and encourage teachers to improve teaching planning With the open communication they have created a warm and safe environment for the growth and development of students, they learn and help each other, appreciating the individual abilities of all students. The school in its educational program has a subject orientation and mobility in space. This way they help students to acquire skills and knowledge for orientation and movement in space. The most commonly used digital text to speech - speech program.

The National Union of the Blind of the Republic of North Macedonia was established in 1946 under the name of the Union of the Blind of the Republic of Macedonia and since then has acted as a national, non-governmental, non-partisan, non-profit and humanitarian organization of special social importance in the Republic. The basic mission of the Union is to create better living and working conditions for blind people throughout the country, their associations and their better socialization and integration into the social community. The Union of the Blind is an umbrella organization that through its 18 associations of blind people counts more than 2500 members - blind people on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, ie people who see at most 10% of the better eye with corrective glass. The National Union of the Blind of the Republic of North Macedonia is a member of: - The National Council of Disabled Organizations of Macedonia; The Balkan Consultative Committee; The European Union of the Blind; The World Union of the Blind Since its inception, the Union has been taking full care of its members - the blind, starting with the discovery, referral to education, literacy, Braille, rehabilitation, employment, job adjustment, procurement of technical equipment and the like. The main goals and tasks of the National Union of the Blind of the Republic of Macedonia are: - advocating for the realization and strengthening of the rights of the blind in the Republic of Macedonia - strengthening the economic and social security of the blind - training of blind people to perform basic activities to improve or compensate for the lost function - advice to blind people and their families - improvement of the education system, rehabilitation, work training, retraining and employment of blind people - accompanying services in the procurement of various specific typhlotechnical devices and distribution of the same and other compensatory devices necessary for increasing the independence in everyday life and in the realization of the rights of the blind - proposes measures for application of standards and guidelines for removal of obstacles and security, and access of blind people in the immediate physical environment such as houses, buildings, public transport, public institutions and other forms of transport - Development of the spiritual and physical culture of the blind by providing access and access of the blind to information and communications (production of Braille and sound books, multi-purpose magazines, phono and Braille library for the blind, organizes and creates working conditions for the special cultural and artistic societies, clubs and organizes cultural and artistic events as well as developing and helping all kinds of cultural and artistic works of the blind by developing the musical and radio amateur spirit, sports as chess , goal-pain, board, etc. Organizing a national chess championship, athletics and football and participating in international competitions. - The National Union of the Blind of the Republic of Macedonia cooperates more closely with the State School for Rehabilitation of Visually Impaired Children and Youth Dimitar Vlahov – Skopje In its decades-long work, the National Union of the Blind of the Republic of Macedonia has implemented several projects funded by the FARE-LION program, the French Federation of the Blind, the National Organization of the Blind from Spain, MCIC, FOSIM, Catholic Aid Services, CRS, World Bank, ITZ, OKSFAM, Macedonian Red Cross, Handicap International, USAID, T-Mobile Foundation for Macedonia, Lions Clubs across the country and the like. The National Union of the Blind of the Republic of Macedonia has its own business facility, appropriate work equipment, its own passenger and van vehicle, Brajovo printing house, educational computer center and sound studio. The financing of the current activities and program tasks is performed from the funds from games of chance through the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy of the Republic of Macedonia.

The association is concerned to offer accessible transport solutions for VIP, but also to involve VIP in an active life through cultural and sporting activities. Regarding the accessibility of travel solutions, several projects were carried out, the most successful was Tandem Access. The project Tandem Access implemented a navigation and orientation model inside the subway stations for the visually impaired users. It gave the user, through an application, notifications containing descriptive information aimed to help him to orient to and from the platforms and entrances of the metro system. This model contains a network of 1500 iBeacons installed inside the stations that communicate with the mobile phone through the Bluetooth connection. The platform is able to recognize the direction of movement of the user according to the order of the beacons with which the mobile device interacts, and also, at an intersection, it is able to notify him of all possible destinations and the direction to be followed in order to reach them. Apart from these technology-based project, the association also runs cultural projects, with children from blind schools, consisting in workshops for theater, modeling, music, computer competitions in schools. Lately there are actions on the part of civic education, knowledge of the rights of people with disabilities. There are also run sports projects under the name Tandem Arena. A national tandem bike championships was implemented, it takes place every year. Visually impaired children are brought to a sport facility in Izvorani (near Bucharest) were they train swimming, cycling and athletics.

The Spanish company Autocares Victor Bayo has created the first 100% inclusiveness touristic bus. An initiative its object is to eliminate the barriers for people with different disabilities Implementation: How is it implemented? It is a vehicle designed to facilitate mobility for all those people who, daily, find it difficult to move around, regardless of the type they are, mainly for people with reduced mobility, hearing and/or vision. For passengers with reduced visibility They have information in Braille with the rules of evacuation and safety of the bus In all the upper compartments there is an indication of the Braille numbering Acoustic system that indicates the opening and closing of the doors. Additional information: 57-seater vehicle Drivers have specific training in inclusiveness, which enables them to understand the needs of differently abled passengers and thus offer them the help they need at all times.

Cabify is committed to integral accessibility through an accessible application for the blind and visually impaired and the training of its drivers to offer better services to disabled. Implementation: How is it implemented? Through its mobile application: 100% accessible for blind people, with enhancements and semantic adaptations for the screen reader. Through driver training Recommendations for better service: At the pick-up, go out to meet the passenger and identify yourself as the driver. Always approach the person from the right so they can hold on. It is mandatory to let guide dogs on Upon arrival at the destination, help the passenger out, explain the obstacles he may encounter and, if possible, accompany him. Additional Information: Tips to offer the best service to a blind passenger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiWrrZyUW94 Mobility app 100% accesible https://youtu.be/TklO0W6l0lU

The Polytechnic University of Bucharest, through the Faculty of Automation and Computers, together with partners from four other European countries, has developed the most revolutionary integrated system that allows the blind to perceive the environment through an alternative representation, based on sounds and vibrations. Sound of Vision (soundofvision.net) is a European project Horizon 2020 with an extremely ambitious objective - the creation of a wearable device. At the end of the project, the product system, in the prototype stage (TRL 8) is an integrated solution that includes hardware, software and training procedures. “The system has been intensively tested, involving a large number of blinders, and iteratively refined based on feedback. The results are extremely promising: trained users are able to perceive the environment and navigate extremely dynamically using the prototype The blind man actually feels what objects are around him, so he can orient, navigate and move easily. We integrate many other things into the system, such as special categories of objects that are special, doors, stairs, potholes, obstacles at head height, those that are not ordinary objects but require special attention, they are represented in a special way, so they I feel there is a door, a ladder, and so on. Moreover, many other things are implemented that are of interest to them, such as walking on the sidewalk, having a guide, or detecting traffic signs, zebra and traffic light from pedestrian crossings, traffic light color, texts. When you want and press a button and the system plays the text. For example, here is the pharmacy, here is the grocery. There are solutions to cover them and integrate them into a system that is integrative. We will probably also integrate GPS-related navigation, and the system has the potential to become the overall solution as an artificial feel.” Within 3-5 years it can be imagined as glasses, a belt, a waistcoat / shirt that does not bother with anything and the mobile phone. In terms of costs do not go very high, below 1000 euros, this is our target with the prospect of decreasing as production increases.

This association is distinguished by the dedication, consistency and competence with which it offers self-service services to people with visual disabilities, allowing them to become largely independent in the actions they carry out in their daily lives, this being a precondition for wanting and being able to travel safely. The services of the association are materialized in several types of workshops in which VIP learns and train constantly. 1. Mobility workshops, showing how the hearing is used (how the sound returns), how the city is organized, on how to use the mobile phone and the navigation applications. Trainers were learning how to approach VIP. In the meantime, there were concluded guides for volunteers. Each year of activity ends with mobility tests, with mixed VIP teams and typical people, when we go together to explore certain areas. 2. Cooking workshops (in restaurants, at the bakery) for both blinds and typical blindfolded. 3. Echolocation workshops for independent living: using the cane, tying laces, pouring water into the glass. The echolocation workshop teaches how to use hearing to detect an object in front, right, left, how to use the sonar (a certain intentional produced sound) to track how sound is propagated. Here you learn how to detect where the sound comes from. 4. Arts & hobbies: ceramics