October 3, 2020 – The Zadar Tourist Board and the Administrative Department for EU Projects of the City of Zadar have carried out the complex task of adapting the zadar.travel website for people with disabilities, and promotional materials in Braille will soon be printed.
HRTurizam writes that the Zadar restaurants adapted for people with disabilities or the routes most suitable for people with mobility difficulties are only a part of the new content on the Zadar Tourist Board website, and people with disabilities can access the same and a wealth of other information on their computers. Thus, the zadar.travel website is now accessible to all blind and partially sighted people, respecting different vision levels.
In addition to functional and design adjustments to the font, i.e., size and spacing, which are, for example, important for people with dyslexia, the site also has the ability to work in dark mode, but also an integrated content reader in all languages that automatically turns on if it is used by a visually impaired or blind person that has a default system on their computer.
This project was financed and carried out by the Administrative Department for EU Projects of the City of Zadar and the Zadar Tourist Board. At the same time, the company Llyods Design from Labin adapted the functionalities and web design of the City Tourist Board (zadar.travel).
The project of adapting the content on the web for people with disabilities was carried out by the City Tourist Board in cooperation with disability associations in Zadar, especially with the umbrella Disabled Association of Zadar County, so that all changes have real value.
“So far, we have had nothing, and now we have something. There is still room to supplement because there is a lot of information worth having on the web, but this is the first and essential step. The site will be better and more comprehensive over time,” says Filip Jadrijev, secretary of the Zadar County Association of the Physically Handicapped.
Jadrijev was involved in the implementation of the project and gave advice and suggestions from people from other associations, especially those visually impaired or blind from the Association of the Blind of Zadar County, as there were certain requirements when creating and adapting pages.
“The project is very important because it is not intended only for people in Zadar, but also for all guests with disabilities who come to Zadar from all over Croatia and the world. As I am a physically disabled person who uses a wheelchair, it was important to me that the website of the Tourist Board provides information on where and how disabled people can move around Zadar, or whether they can visit restaurants, theater, and museums, or how to access apartments and the like. In that sense, I expect the site to have more and more information day by day. Now we finally have a unique place that can be visited by a large population of people with disabilities, regardless of the type of disability,” concludes Jadrijev.
The goal of the European project Tourism4All is to develop and promote a cross-border network of affordable tourist destinations. By improving the accessibility of natural and cultural sights of selected destinations, and the promotion of new tourist services, the social inclusion of disadvantaged or special needs (persons with disabilities, the elderly…) is encouraged, but also reduces seasonality in tourism.
Apart from being the first such website from a tourist destination, the site was also made according to the highest standards of web adaptation in Croatia. Lloyds Design from Labin was in charge of adapting the Zadar Tourist Board website for people with disabilities.
“This is a high level of adjustment and standard that is perhaps the highest in Croatia, and we realized it in cooperation with associations that bring together people with disabilities,” said the owner of Lloyds, Domagoj Ostovic, and added:
“As we have different levels of visually impaired people, by emphasizing shades of contrast or color, we have taken into account all the tasks in the adaptation of the web. The job turned out to be extremely demanding and challenging, but we are proud to have been given the opportunity. ”
Creating tourist information materials for disabled people will continue with the production of printed materials in Braille and audio readers of printed info content on mobile devices.
Also, on the Zadar Tourist Board website, there is a special subpage for people with disabilities with various tourist and important information.
The Zadar peninsula is completely suitable for people with disabilities, and ramps with accesses are set up in all places where there is a difference in the terrain. Zadar not only adapted its streets, but also most of the city’s institutions and sights.
Thus, various important information for tourists with special needs can be found on the subpage, from disabled-friendly accommodation, disabled-accessible beaches, hotels and campsites, restaurants, facilities, and routes.
You can explore this section of the Zadar Tourist Board website HERE.
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