Mike Bayer
You're listening to the Vacation Rental Success Podcast and we are proud to welcome back returning sponsor OwnerRez, providing a powerful and flexible system for managing vacation rental properties. OwnerRez provides booking and maintenance management, payment, scheduling and collection, as well as insightful reporting.

Mike Bayer
OwnerRez will provide you with a long-term booking foundation that is scalable for your vacation rental business, while fully managing your channel listings, but still focusing on your brand, your website and your way of doing things.

Mike Bayer
If you sign up now using the promotional code VRF30, that's VRF 3 0, you can get 30% off your first three months. Make sure you listen into the mid-episode break, where you'll hear some great testimonials about OwnerRez and more about this incredible company. For more information about OwneRez, click in the link in the description of this episode on your smart device.

Mike Bayer
Let's get started. Here's your host, Heather Bayer.

Heather Bayer
Today I want to introduce you to a truly inspirational person, an entrepreneur, a visionary, and someone whose mission it is to make vacation rentals accessible to as many people as possible. Lorraine Woodward has lived with a disability all her life and knows how difficult it is to find places to stay where she and her family can feel as comfortable as they are in their own home.

Heather Bayer
The catchphrase for this episode should be 'beyond the wheelchair', as it will get you really thinking about a wide range of disabilities and how you can create spaces to welcome the people who live with them.

Heather Bayer
This is the Vacation Rental Success Podcast, keeping you up-to-date with news, views, information and resources on this rapidly changing short-term rental business. I'm your host, Heather Bayer, and with 25 years of experience in this industry, I'm making sure you know what's hot, what's not, what's new, and what will help make your business a success.

Heather Bayer
Well, hello and welcome to another episode of the Vacation Rental Success Podcast. This is your host, Heather Bayer, and I'm super excited to be back with you once again. And today we are talking about the world of disability and how we can create spaces that will welcome guests with special needs.

Heather Bayer
I read a recent article by Pew Research that says there are about 42.5 million Americans with disabilities, making up around 13% of the population. That's a lot of people. And this group includes people with hearing, with vision, with cognitive, intellectual, mobility, self-care, or people with independent living difficulties. There is a huge range of disabilities, and a lot of them are not visible, and we're going to be talking about that today. But for a moment, just think about how many people you know in your immediate friends and family circle who have special needs.

Heather Bayer
For me, I have a stepson who is disabled, in his 40s by a stroke and a heart condition, and who lives in an assisted residential complex, a 17 year-old granddaughter who has severe autism and cognitive issues and my brother who's got neuropathy in his feet and needs a walker to get around. And it's likely you also have someone close to you who is less able and has some special needs. None of these things should stop them going on vacation, but most of them don't, because of the challenge of finding a place to stay that will accommodate those needs.

Heather Bayer
My guest today has made it her mission to bridge that gap and help short-term rental owners look at their homes from the perspective of someone with a disability and find ways of making them more accessible. So, Lorraine Woodward is the founder of Becoming Rentable or Becoming RentABLE, a company that strives to bring visibility to the need for accessible short-term rentals and does it through providing education about accessible design, construction and renovation. And she has also created a listing site where owners and managers can list their properties that are accessible. This is something that is hugely needed. So let's listen as Lorraine tells her story of living with a disability herself and how she used that experience to open the way for so many more people. As she says, everyone deserves a chance to go on vacation and make memories with their family.

Heather Bayer
Well, I am super delighted to have with me today somebody I've been wanting to talk to after I listened to all the other podcasts she's been on and the articles that have been written about her. It's my pleasure to welcome Lorraine Woodward of Becoming RentABLE. And we're going to be talking today about all things accessible, accessible rental.

Heather Bayer
So many welcomes, Lorraine. I'm super excited to have you on the show here.

Lorraine Woodward
I'm so happy to be here. This is great. Thank you.

Heather Bayer
I was just talking to Lorraine just before we started recording and talking about the fact that I've only ever known of one place that's been fully accessible, because I went and visited it in Cyprus. And for those of you who listen to my podcast, you'll have heard me talk about Andy Renals and his friend David Croft, who had a spinal injury and had real difficulty in finding anything to rent when he went on vacation, which was not very often because of the traveling issues. So when I heard about Lorraine, I just wanted to get her on here and hear all about this, because I think it's just important that everybody understands and knows that, as something Lorraine says, it's beyond wheelchair accessible.

Heather Bayer
So let's kick off. Lorraine. Hey, tell us a bit about yourself and your background and how that led you to Becoming RentABLE.

Lorraine Woodward
I'm Lorraine Woodward, 61 and very proud and excited to be 61. I have muscular dystrophy, I use an electric wheelchair. I also have two young well, two young men, boys. It's hard, they're 26 and 28 and so I always talk about my guys, but really young men and they also have muscular dystrophy. So, traveling for the three of us and my husband and our chairs and our luggage, needless to say, was complicated. Then you add, on top of all of that, let's find a place that will meet our needs, and there's the story.

Lorraine Woodward
When I became 59, I decided that I wanted to have one last 'hurrah'. I'm a serial entrepreneur. I do Lorraine's Canes, which are hand-painted wooden canes that are beautiful. I had a communications firm for 30 years. My world, personally and professionally, has been all about disability. So when I was 59, on a December Sunday afternoon, I was thinking about, okay, what do I want to do? And I'm looking up in the sky, and, all right God, what's my purpose? What do I enjoy? What do I love? And I love having a short-term rental property.

Lorraine Woodward
And we built it because we didn't travel as I had hoped, because of the challenges that we faced. So we built a property that met our needs, but also had a rental component. And ideally, it was all about, of course, me and my family. That's what it was about. And then I realized after building it, that it wasn't about me. We had 400 families that enjoyed this space, and it was their stories, all the same, how hard it was to find an accessible short-term rental. And my initial thought was, no, it's not that hard, because I had been away from it for a while, because we had our own place. And I looked and I looked, and I'm like, this is crazy that it's so difficult to find.

Lorraine Woodward
We had renters that came from Canada. They drove two and a half days one way, five days of their vacation, driving to get to our place. I'm like, why? And they said, well, because there's nothing else like it.  No, no, no! From Canada to North Carolina, all along the East Coast, there's got to be and they were like, no. And then families from California, from Ohio, from Texas, all over the country were coming, and I'm going, okay.

Lorraine Woodward
So when I decided to start to make a difference, and that's really what I wanted to do, not only for our family, but for all of us to look at. Why is this so difficult? What is the problem? The problem is there's a lack of accessible short-term rental properties we know here in the United States as well as globally.

Lorraine Woodward
So what's the solution? What are we going to do? And we initially thought it was a TV show. I come from a communications world, so I'm thinking, all right, what's the best way to reach everybody? It's like streaming, is it? Let's go create a 20-minutes piece, and people can binge watch it and learn all this great information. And so that's where we started. And Lord knows we have pivoted our company over the last two years.... just to say we don't have a TV show yet, but we're doing much greater things, I believe, and that's how we got started. And I'm really excited about not only the social change that we want to bring about, but also really making a difference in all of our lives.

Heather Bayer
So Becoming RentABLE is a listing site?

Lorraine Woodward
It is. And people don't understand - what is a listing site?  And what we are is, we literally list accessible properties. Now we validate that these properties are indeed accessible. So when people book, they see a property that's like, oh my gosh, this meets our needs. And so we end up that you click on a link and it takes you to the booking platform. We don't get commissions, we're not into all that mess. I don't want to be there. We're a clearinghouse of information.

Lorraine Woodward
So we have over 1200 accessible properties on our listing site, and we're just in the United States.  That, believe it or not, is more accessible properties than Airbnb and Vrbo combined. You think, 1200 properties.... Lorraine, that's great. No, let's amortize 1200 by 50 states. So we're only looking at possibly a few accessible properties per state. And it's like, how do we change this? And we started our research and looking at what historically has the short-term rental industry done in accessible short-term rentals? Well, first of all, not a whole heck of a lot. Secondly, it's all about wheelchair access. Hey, I'm a wheelchair user. I am about that.

Lorraine Woodward
But I have friends who use walkers, who use crutches, they want a vacation too, and they have specific needs. And then we look at our friends that have autism and my father-in-law's dementia and Alzheimer's, and the sight and the vision and, hello our aging population. And so what we have done is looked at expanding. What does accessible short-term rental mean? And it goes beyond the wheelchair, like you said in the beginning, and it really is looking at this broadness of accessibility.

Lorraine Woodward
But the key is also, how do you find an accessible short-term rental? And that's where the solution comes in. And that's in, in technical words, that's the onboarding process.  For the layperson, that's those buttons that you click when you're looking for a property. And a lot of companies say 'wheelchair accessible', 'elevator'. That's it. What do I do now? I clicked on the elevator button and there's 5025 properties. What do I do now? I look at each and every one to find what we need. So we identified 43 filters, and it's something that I learned from a colleague of mine, actually at Expedia, and Toby's like, Lorraine, it's not about prescriptive filters.  That's a broad filter, that is 'wheelchair accessible'. A prescriptive filter is one that says '36-inch doors', 'a roll-in shower', 'a step-in shower'. It's very specific.

Lorraine Woodward
So what we believe is, there's not a formula. It's like, Lorraine, what are the must haves in creating an accessible mobility property?  And there's not, because what my needs are, are different than my son Nathan's needs, and that are different than my son Alexander's needs, that are different from my friend Carolyn's needs. And so it's about choices so that we can go online and click those buttons that are specific to me, because it's all about me.  Right? Then after you click on those filters, these accessible properties come up to the top. And in our industry, that that makes it a better user experience in finding a property that meets your needs, because I can tell you, it's exhausting, it's discouraging, it's depressing, and you just want to throw your hands up and go, you know what? I'm just not going to go on vacation, and we don't want that.

Lorraine Woodward
Vacation is an important part of life, and I didn't realize that until actually I went to therapy and realized it is those experiences.  It's a part of life that is important for our families to get together for new experiences, for educational growth. And what I've recently realized in working with GBTA (Global Business Travel Association), accessible short-term rentals are really important for our employer growth, it gives employers an opportunity to recruit new employees, for employees to be promoted, to go to events. And so the aspect of an accessible short-term rental is really quite large in vacations, in quality of life, in employment. So we're trying to accomplish a lot here.

Heather Bayer
You've made some really good points here, and one of them I want to just come back on is, what is accessibility? Because for the people who are listening, they're going, okay, so where do I go from here? How do I know if I'm accessible or not, and what can I do to get there?

Lorraine Woodward
Right? Well, that's a big question. Well, obviously, you can go to www.Becomingrentable.com. You can contact me and our team, but what does it mean? And we break it down for.... Let's start with mobility. And I think that in a way, that mobility can be very overwhelming, because you think of tearing down walls, you think of expense. Oh, we have to have an elevator. We have to make our property bigger or make our kitchen different and our bathroom different. Without a doubt, there are elements of an accessible mobility, short-term rental that can be expensive. Obviously, if you're in new construction, it's more affordable. And then if you're in the renovation component, there are things that you can add, but there are also things that you can do that we encourage property owners and hosts to think about, and that is what are features that you have in your property that could benefit potential renters? For example, something you may not think about, a driveway. Okay, yeah, we have a driveway, but what is that driveway made of? Is it a hard surface driveway? Is it stone? Is it gravel? Asphalt? And for me and a wheelchair, user and how wide is it so I can drive my van, open the door, lift the ramp out and roll out to get to the front door.

Lorraine Woodward
So if you have that, put that in your description. And then I have no steps to the front door and we call that 'clear access to the front door'. I have that, great. I have one step though, to get to our front door. Put that one step in. For somebody using a walker, they can get up that one step, that may not be a problem for them or a family member to get into the property. Identify how wide your doors are, think about yourself. And I encourage some people, go get an office chair, go get a kitchen chair. And now navigate that chair and see how far you can go with that chair before there's an obstacle in the way. And what is that obstacle and what can you do to relieve that obstacle? Wow. I can go and get $100 portable ramp and so that now there is not that step barrier in the way. And I could put it in my one less thing to bring closet so that I've put it in my description, I've taken a picture of it. So now potential renters know that getting into our property is an option.  So let us know and we'll have that ramp available.

Lorraine Woodward
So there are a lot of things that you can do. One of my favorite comments about "What can we do, Lorraine, to make our property accessible." And I asked the question, do you have a blender? Yeah. And do you think it's just about margaritas and daiquiris? For some people, absolutely. But for others it's about blending food because dad has new dentures and it's hard for him to chew or somebody with a feeding tube needs to blend their food. And so that's one less thing that they have to bring that's important to them.

Lorraine Woodward
We had talked earlier about diapers, particularly adult diapers. They're large. You have to fill your van with product. Right. But why not order them and have them delivered to your property ahead of time? You know that you need them and then that's all that space in the car that you don't have to bring. But again, share that information. We sometimes focus on sharing the beautiful flowers that are in our property, the china that we have, look at the decor.  Well, let's look at and recognize that beautiful HGTV spa-bathroom that you built that has a roll-in shower.  You may not think about it and that's it. We don't think about it. If it's not a part of our life through a friend, ourself, a family member, we don't think about it. And that's what we want to do. We want people to think about it.

Heather Bayer
So you made a couple of points here that I want to cover. So in my research for talking to you, I came across Universal Design Standards. So we've talked a little bit, or you've talked a little bit about retrofitting, if you've already got a property, looking at things that you can change within that property. But for a lot of people, they are starting out from scratch. They're perhaps building something, or they're doing some renovations. And you mentioned HGTV. We see all these shows that just look at all these aesthetics, which you think you've got to have for your guests.  But can you incorporate.... I mean.... I'll ask you in a sec just to talk about what Universal Design Standards are, and then how can spaces be created that will accommodate a wider range of disabilities without sacrificing those aesthetics?

Lorraine Woodward
Sure. Universal design really is a design that benefits all of us. So regardless of a disability, that we benefit from it.  Something simple is the placement of your furniture. So for somebody in a wheelchair or using a walker, crutches and even a cane, having 36 inches between your couch and a chair provides that access. It also allows a little one who's learning to walk to do that perimeter walking, where they hold on to the arm of one thing and then they go to the other, because they're learning to walk. And it just makes it feel more open and inviting, maybe.

Lorraine Woodward
So, again, universal design is the way that you design that provides benefits that more than people with disabilities can benefit from, but importantly, that people with disabilities can benefit from.  For example, what we call.... and this is a mouthful of words.... zero threshold entry. What the heck does that mean? I know. Well, that means that you can go through a door without any barrier. There's that threshold between your exterior to the interior. Sometimes I call it a bumpity-bump, you know, that you go in and there's this bump. And we try to create that bump less than a half of an inch.

Lorraine Woodward
And that allows easy wheelchair access. Sometimes that bump is more than that; it's an inch. So for me in my electric wheelchair, I have to get back a little bit and throttle my joystick. And so we say zero threshold entry. And not only for your exterior doors, but for your interior as well, because sometimes we're changing our surfaces from carpet to tile, from tile to wood. So again, what does that threshold look like? And so, again, for people who are visually impaired, a zero threshold entry is easier because there's not that tripping hazard. For somebody with Alzheimer's, again, there's not that tripping hazard. So again, that's a benefit, and that would be an element of universal design.

Lorraine Woodward
So colors.  Colors can impact your mood. It can also affect people on the autism spectrum to have an episode, because there's this bold change of color. And in their brain, the way it's connected, that has an impact on them. And they will have what we call an episode. So we promote a lot of times a neutral color palette so that you don't have that sensitivity for people with autism.  Again, it can be a no cost solution - you're painting.

Lorraine Woodward
Now, I have a property at the beach that's a short-term rental and it's bright blue and it's green and it's yellow and it's orange. And I have people from the autism spectrum who've stayed at our property. It's not a one-size-fits-all. And so people who've stayed, that color did not affect them. But you know what did, is when the fire truck came down the road and that siren. So what affected them was the location of where our property is. Again, sharing that information is what is important. So if color doesn't affect my child or for me, that's on the spectrum, but sound does, include that in your description. That at the end of the street is our fire department, which is great for people with disabilities. And I've fallen, and I can't get up.... 911, Hi EMS, can you come and hoist me up? And believe me, they've done it a zillion times at the beach for me, but yet for somebody with autism..... So again, it's all about, what are the individual needs?

Heather Bayer
Yes, this sort of brings me to thinking about how you communicate with the guests. So where do you start with the questions? Let's say they've found you on Becoming RentABLE, but you want as a host to know that you're getting it right. What questions? And should they ask questions? What questions can they ask? What should they ask?

Lorraine Woodward
Everything..... You should always ask. If you don't know, ask, because what you don't know, you don't know. And may it educate that host go, wow, I do have that. In fact, we were doing an assessment of a property and the host was not happy with our evaluation of their property, because we said it was not a wheelchair accessible property. And they came back and said, Lorraine, it is. And I'm like, OK, well, I see your five steps in the front and I see your five steps in the back......  But we have a ramped entrance in the garage. I said that's awesome. Where do you say that and where do you show it? Oh, we didn't show it. And then we went on to identify and it's like what I am seeing on your website is that you don't have those features. So the questions that are asked, may alert the host to go, wait a minute, I do have that. I need to let people know about it. So I encourage questions on both sides of it, so that we educate.

Lorraine Woodward
We have a very large bathroom at the beach and it was designed as a wet room.  And a wet room is where water can go up the walls, down on the floor, and there's a place for the water to escape. And so, for whatever reason, when I was designing this accessible property, I had this idea in my head that I needed it to be big enough for somebody to come in with three attendants helping them. That was unreasonable in my mind, but it was what was in my mind. So this is like a 10' x 12' bathroom. It's the size of a bedroom, it's very large, and I get a lot of questions from people who rent who don't have a disability. Lorraine, why do you have such a large bathroom? And I decided that it was a positive aspect, not only for my guests who can benefit from it, but from the guests who don't understand what it means to have an accessible bathroom, and that by having this, somebody can come in and help me bathe, help me shower. They can bring in their dog and shower. If they have a dog that went to the beach and now they're all sandy and dirty, there's a benefit of that. But it does start bringing out questions, why do you have this, why do you have that?  And again, I say ask the question. That's how we're going to learn. I don't know if I answered it correctly, but I'm all about the questions.

Heather Bayer
That is great.

Lorraine Woodward
Yeah.

Heather Bayer
Well, I think there's some people who may be a bit reticent as hosts in coming forward and saying, can I ask this question? Is this okay to ask this question? You think about people with therapy dogs, and there's only three questions you can ask. So I think people are a bit concerned about, is it okay to ask somebody what their disability is and how we can help them to accommodate their needs?

Lorraine Woodward
That's a really good point on both of those. And in regard to that second question about asking about their disability, I wouldn't frame that question that way. I would identify and focus on what are your needs.  How can I help you so that you can access our property? Some people are more comfortable than others in talking about their medical condition, their health, but they are more open to finding out what their needs are, of how we can help them. And in some cases, it's not the person that is making the call; it's a relative. It's somebody who may not live with them. I want to look at, is this property going to meet Uncle Jim's needs? What I know about Uncle Jim is that his health has changed and he uses a walker. What are things that I should look for that will help Uncle Jim in having a positive experience and be able to access your house? So it takes away from the personal aspect, but more of meeting their needs.

Heather Bayer
So it's more of what can we do as a host or a manager to make your stay the best ever?

Lorraine Woodward
Exactly. And in regard to the service dog issue, yes, you do have to provide for a service dog. And an easy way to address that is, I understand you have a service dog. If you will send me your documentation to confirm that it is a service dog, because a service dog in the United States, through ADA, by law says that it's a working animal. That job of the dog is to help you be independent and to meet your needs. But an emotional dog is not, under the ADA in the United States. And so that does not require the host to grant a therapy dog access, but a service dog, that is a working animal. And they even in the ADA, identify a horse as a working animal. So there are different kinds of.... they're miniature horses now, it's not the big ones!  But there are different types of working animals. And that's the key between a therapy animal and a service animal.

Heather Bayer
Yes, this is an entire episode on its own. I'm a dog person, so when I had my properties, you can bring as many dogs as you want, just leave the kids at home.

Lorraine Woodward
And again, we talk about wheelchair access. And there are a number of hosts that don't want people with disabilities at their property, because they're afraid they're going to get dings in their walls, they're going to wheel into something and damage their furniture. And I have to say, I have had over 400 families in our one rental, and they are the best renters because they respect my property. They understand how limited accessible properties are. I get gifts from my renters thanking me and I tell people all the time, it's like, no, these are like they're not partyers, I mean, yes, there are people with disabilities who like to party next to the next person, don't get me wrong. But there is a level of respect that I see with families that are using our property because of their needs. And so if I had to say a group that I would rent to and recommend, hands down, it is our families that need the access to our properties.

Heather Bayer
Yes, I'll definitely go along with that.

Heather Bayer
We're going to take a short break just now to hear about our sponsor OwnerRez directly from one of their clients. We'll be back to our interview in just a few moments.

Dave Bruder
Hi, my name is Dave Bruder, and along with my wife, we own and manage a total of four vacation rentals between the beautiful, Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and the sunny beaches of Siesta Key, Florida.

Dave Bruder
We've been operating for 10 years and using OwnerRez about seven years now, and OwnerRez has truly transformed the way we grow and manage our vacation rental business.  When we started adding more properties, we quickly realized that manual tasks were becoming our biggest obstacle. That's where OwnerRez stepped in and it made all the difference. With its advanced features and automation, OwnerRez has saved us countless hours of manual work. From guest communication to automated processes, OwnerRez has become the backbone of our vacation rental operations and book direct strategy.  OwnerRez powers a seamless and professional booking experience directly through our website.

Dave Bruder
One of the standout features of OwnerRez is its powerful channel management system. Having a single dashboard to manage availability, rates, discounts, and content across multiple channels has been a game changer. I can't imagine trying to make updates for our four properties across six different channels without the efficiency and control provided by OwnerRes. Moreover, their seamless integration with third-party companies to manage things such as door lock, automation and cleaning apps has further streamlined our operations.

Dave Bruder
Throughout our journey, the OwnerRez team has been there for us providing excellent support whenever we needed help. Their support articles are detailed and well-written, making it easy to find solutions for any questions or challenges we encountered. Additionally, their commitment to being open and transparent is evident through their enhancements in communication and engagement with the user community. They listen, track feature requests publicly, provide valuable feedback, and genuinely care about their user experience and our ability to conduct business with our guests.

Dave Bruder
In all honesty, I cannot recommend OwnerRez highly enough. It's been an invaluable platform that has made managing and growing our vacation rental business a breeze. If you're looking for a comprehensive and reliable solution, OwnerRez is the way to go.

Heather Bayer
Well, that was a great testimonial. And now back to our interview.

Heather Bayer
So let's talk about technology, because I know you're tech savvy.

Lorraine Woodward
My kids would not agree with you on that.

Heather Bayer
But technology has opened up new possibilities for accessibility. So what are some of the tech driven solutions that there are out there now that hosts could adopt?

Lorraine Woodward
Absolutely. It is amazing. It does make it more accessible for families to visit because of technology. Your keyless door lock, that's a piece of technology that can be under $200. Sometimes it can be under $100. And it really benefits people with arthritis, people like myself who have limited dexterity. It's hard for me to hold a key and then get it into that key slot and then turn the key to access. But I can use my knuckle easily to punch the numbers and enter and use a lever handle and I'm into a property. So I highly recommend that technology. Technology also works on the renter so that there are apps and technology that for somebody who's visually impaired, there is an app, it's free, it's called Be My Eyes. And so you're a renter and you want to know what's in front of you. And so you click on your app and you hold your phone and somebody on the other line will say, in front of you is a couch, and then to the left of the couch is a chair. So if you walk ten steps to the right, you can now sit on the couch.  And so that technology allows somebody who is visually impaired or blind to be able to access that property comfortably. And so I think that's beautiful.

Lorraine Woodward
For me, a technology that has benefited me is an electric toilet lift. And you go, An electric toilet lift? And yes, I have had an electric toilet lift for over 21 years. I physically cannot get off the toilet by myself. But this device will lift me up, I transfer on it, I push a button, it hoists me up to a standing position so then I can pivot and get into my wheelchair. That allows me to be independent and not have a caretaker. It is and can be expensive, anywhere from $800-$1500. But it allows a person to travel and be able to toilet by themselves.

Lorraine Woodward
Technology doesn't always have to be electronic. It can be technology in the creation of a chair that's used in a bathroom, so that somebody can transfer, sit on this chair and take a shower, or put one leg into a tub and the other leg into the tub and put your chair so you can take a bath.

Lorraine Woodward
So there's a lot of durable medical equipment that's been developed through technology and also the electronic technology. I personally like the technology that allows me to turn on and off my lights in bed by pushing a button. Now, again, you have to think about, as you're going, oh, technology, I'm going to get that in my rental properties. I do have the technology that allows me to turn on and off my lights, but to allow the renter to turn on and off my lights would be able to give them my access, which is my codes. So think about when you're looking at technology, what is universal that allows your renter to have access to it versus only access to yourself, like Hulu or Netflix. You have your account, but you don't want to share your password. But if they use their password...... I would say technology, another benefit, is a Smart TV. And a Smart TV, absolutely makes sure that it is secure so it's not going to fall over on anybody, but this technology allows closed captioning for the visually impaired. It allows the volume of sound for the hearing impaired. It allows the person on the spectrum of autism to be able to watch something that is part of their daily life that they can see.

Lorraine Woodward
The other technology that I think is important that we can benefit from is making sure that you video your property so that, again, a person like myself can see, are there barriers that are going to be in my way to visit that property? And for the family with a cognitive disability, where change is really difficult, they can start viewing that property weeks, a month out. So when they arrive to that property, it's not a change. Remember that door, Lorraine? That's what we've been looking at. Now we're at that door. Remember that room that we looked at, here is that room. So that entrance to the property is not a big change. It's something that they've seen over and over again and will be more welcoming to that guest.

Heather Bayer
I think for me.... I ran a property management company for 20 years, and one of the best pieces of technology we ever adopted was Matterport and doing the video walkthroughs of every property. And guests would come back to us over and over again, usually able-bodied guests, but saying how wonderful it was we could choose our rooms before we went. There was no arguments when we got there about who was having what room, because the layout looks different when you're there than what you're seeing on a listing. But to have a video walkthrough and you can have the whole family just go through the whole house, and I can see how hugely beneficial that would be if you're in a wheelchair, that you can actually sit at your computer and almost navigate yourself through the house. How am I going to get to this room? How am I going to get to that room? And that is massively beneficial.

Lorraine Woodward
Okay, I was going to go back because it reminded me of something about guest and guest experience. So I have found we have been working on our mobility accessible properties for about a year now, and now we're starting to roll out our cognitive accessible properties. What does this mean? What do we look at? And I'm finding more and more interest in our cognitive rollout than mobility. And it is about those invisible disabilities that people, they can't see it, but they want to understand it and why the video element is so important for people who struggle with change. And also, it's not about tearing down those walls and not every property is going to be wheelchair accessible or accessible for somebody with autism. You're going to have your space and you may have a space that's not accessible for any of our areas of focus. And that's okay. And it's also okay if it is just around one area of interest. And what I like to get across is share what that area of interest is. Because if you don't share it, they are not going to come. And that's what is important.

Heather Bayer
Going back to Andy Renals and his property in Cyprus, his website was just fantastic because it had the video walkthrough, but it also had very, very detailed pages on every single room. So it had a picture of each room and it had dimensions, dimensions of a table, how high the chairs were, how high the counters were. And it was incredibly detailed. And I know he took a lot of time over it, but it's a once and done thing. Once you've got it, you've got it on there and that information is gold.

Lorraine Woodward
It really is. People are going, Why are you measuring the height of a table? Because I want to know, can I wheel under that table? Because sometimes there's that lip on a table and my legs can't go under. My wheelchair is an electric one and it goes high and low, and I know as low as I can go, and if that table is one that I cannot wheel under, that means, okay, I'm going to have to eat sideways. It was just like, I talked with a gentleman about what does it mean in the very beginning of building our business, I thought at the time there was going to be this checklist. This is what you have to have. And he said, Lorraine, what's important to you, and I said, you know, off the cuff, a wheel under bathroom sink. And he said, Why? I said, because when I brush my teeth, I dribble. And when I spit, I want to spit into the bowl. And he goes, well, that's not important to me. And I'm like, you don't brush your teeth? He goes, no, I roll on the side of it. I turn my head, I brush my teeth and I spit sideways.  That's not what's important to me. And that's when I got what is important to me may not be important to you in understanding accessibility. And I don't know why I just went on that tangent, but either way.

Heather Bayer
No, that was really relevant. That is about giving the information. And it also comes back on the questions you're asking. What is important? That's a great question. What is important to that person that's in your group that has some needs? How can we fulfill those needs?

Lorraine Woodward
And it's giving them choices. Choices of selecting what they need. And you on the host side, the property manager, it's important that you give them that information, so they can see those choices. And again we say and my 26 year-old says, mom, you can't do this. And I have, and I do, and I talk about size matters, and size does matter because my wheelchair can get through a 32-inch door. And you're going to know that I went through that 32-inch door because I'm going to leave some skid marks. So I need a 36-inch door. So by measuring the door widths and promoting those door widths is important, I also want to know how high is that threshold? Do I need to bring a threshold ramp with me to get into the property? And it's really the biggest time I have problems is going onto a deck or a balcony or to a lanai that you have gliding doors, but yet that casement that the gliding doors are on. So if I know if it's a couple of inches, I cannot get out there. And I want to know that.  I want to know how tall the kitchen cabinets are. Am I going to cook or are we just going to order out, because I can't access the kitchen cabinets? So size really does matter and it is important.

Heather Bayer
These are some really great points. So not all property owners, and I'm sure people listening to this say, Oh, I don't have this limitless budget. We're talking about all sorts of things that we could provide. And I know going back to Andy, he provided absolutely everything for his property in Cyprus. It was just huge amounts of equipment and facilities that he was offering to his guests. I'm not sure if I did mention that earlier on. I know, we were talking about it before we started. But for those of you who are listening, I do have an episode where I spoke to Andy Renals of a property called Villa Carpe Diem in Cyprus and he created a very fully-accessible property. He actually created it for a friend of his called David Croft, who was a spinal injuries victim. I think you would be pretty impressed with that property if you'd ever got to see it Lorraine.

Lorraine Woodward
Sounds like it, but I actually learned from you. It's like, oh, I need to put those measurements on my property,

Heather Bayer
But I will put a link to that episode in the Show Notes as well, because I think there's some really useful stuff in there if you're interested in furthering this.

Heather Bayer
So thinking about limitless budgets, we've got only a few minutes left now, but what are some cost effective strategies or any small changes that can make a significant impact?

Lorraine Woodward
Again, we're looking anywhere from $50-$200 and that's about mobility access. We look at dimmer switches for, again, our visually impaired and cognition people that have cognitive issues and changing from bright lights to dim lights has an impact on them. There is, believe it or not, it's like two for $15. A little device you can put in your toilet that is a light in your toilet and you can change the colors, you can make it blue, red, green, and that's really helpful for children who want to get up in the middle of the night to go potty. It's also important for people with Alzheimer's who they see something round to go the bathroom in, but it's actually the trash can and it's not the toilet. For somebody with limited mobility, again, not turning on the lights and waking everybody up, they could then go and access the toilet. Having a portable shower chair, again, $35-$50. And you don't have to have it out all the time. Go put it in your closet. We call it our 'able closet', so that when you need it, it's there. And that's one less thing that you have to bring. I

Lorraine Woodward
It could be a transfer board.  That's a board that's about 24" to 36"; it's less than $50, where somebody can transfer from their wheelchair to a built-in bench in the shower, or to transfer to a bathtub. So there are just a number of products. Under-counter lighting is great for people who have low vision. That is, again, a very low cost. One of my favorite devices is a secondary lock on your exterior doors. It runs less than $5, a chain lock, put it at about the 6'-mark on your door. And that is helpful, again, for people with cognitive issues, dementia, Alzheimer's.

Heather Bayer
I know that's such a great one. My granddaughter is cognitively.... I've tried to say this so many times.... disabled, and she's 17 years old. She's nonverbal, she can get around. She walks some distance, but usually uses a chair. But if she finds an open door, she wants to get outside, she loves to be outside. So on the doors of my daughter's home, there are these little, I mean it's not so much a lock, it's just a little chain. She can't get through that. And that is so simple.

Heather Bayer
I'll make sure that all..... People listening to this are going to see the transcript. I'll talk to you later about what you have in the way of guides and help for people to set all this up. But this is such good conversation, Lorraine. I know I've got to bring it to an end, but I don't want to. But anyway, just finally, are there any online communities, any forums or resources where hosts can connect with travelers with disabilities to actually better understand their needs?

Lorraine Woodward
Sure, of course. The best one is www.becomingrentable.com. But yes, there are a number, particularly on Facebook, there are a number of disability travel groups and they range from air travel to destination travel. And I found that that being, again, one of the broadest resources to network in, as well as more and more of our national disability organizations are starting to invest resources and provide information. Again, this is an untapped market.  Fortunately, and unfortunately, we're the only company globally that's taking on this area of focus of accessibility in the short-term rental industry. And so not only are we broadening what the scope is, but we are looking at and providing information on accessible short-term rentals and we are fortunate to be teaming up with Vrbo and Expedia and we'll be going global with our efforts in 2024. So I do encourage people to visit our website and learn from it and ask us questions.

Heather Bayer
Lorraine, I'm in awe of you. You are a true entrepreneur and I love it. I can imagine there's ideas that pop up all the time. Right?

Lorraine Woodward
Well, the big giggle is I took a shower today. For whatever reason, my shower time is my thinking time and so I will let my family know, and I'm going, it was a shower day today. And so I already called my COO this morning and said, Jennifer. She goes, yeah, it was a shower day and I gave her some ideas. So, yes, I am full of ideas.

Heather Bayer
My business partner used to say to me, he said, The four words I hate coming out of your mouth are, I've got an idea!.

Lorraine Woodward
But you know, that's how we create change, it's through those ideas and our company's pivoted a lot and we've learned, but it's through the personal understanding of my world and learning about others' worlds that we are trying to create an inclusive travel experience.

Heather Bayer
I've got massive admiration for you, Lorraine. Thank you for everything you're doing. For those of you who are listening, really think about it. Look at your space, think about how accessible it is. Go to Becoming RentABLE, and check out all the resources on there and think about listing your property.

Heather Bayer
Just finally, Lorraine, if somebody wants to list a property with you, do they just upload it themselves or does it have to be verified first?

Lorraine Woodward
So we do a test, we have a free test, you answer eight questions and then the next is an assessment and it is a fee to be assessed. We look at roughly.... right now, we're at 46.... features in your property and if it indeed is mobility accessible, you're then included on our website. So we want to verify and we verify that by photograph and looking at your URL.

Heather Bayer
Fantastic. Well, I'll make sure that all that information is included on the Show Notes, so anybody who wants to can take a look. I hope we get to meet at some point. I know you don't get to that many conferences, but if you can make it to the Women's Conference in Nashville in December, that would be a bit awesome.

Lorraine Woodward
After we are off air, I may have to learn more.

Heather Bayer
I will share all. OK. Thank you, Lorraine. It's been an absolute pleasure talking with you and I'm sure people are going to find all this information just super interesting.

Lorraine Woodward
Thank you.

Heather Bayer
Well, thank you so much. Lorraine Woodward, that was amazing. I could have kept that conversation going on. And in fact, we did after I hit the stop button, we did carry on talking for another 15 minutes or so. So I am trying to encourage Lorraine to come to the Vacation Rental Women's Summit in Nashville in December because I think people should meet this lady. She's such an entrepreneur and super-dynamic. And I think, yeah, I want to go and network with Lorraine and I expect that you might want to as well.

Heather Bayer
So that's it for another week. I'm cutting this one quite short because that was such a super long conversation. So you don't get me rambling at the end like you usually do. I do want to remind you about my Facebook Group, the Business of Professional and Short-Term Rental Management, which is really growing. We've gone well beyond 4,000 members now. There was such a great discussion on there the other day about supplies. It was a question from Tyann Marcink about how do I manage supplies across the properties. She's got 13 properties and in those 13 properties altogether, there's 96 bedrooms, so a lot of supplies to manage.

Heather Bayer
And she asked a question and within 24 hours she'd had 35 really great responses. So it's a great group. I hope you will come along and join us and you will be warmly welcomed. Don't forget to take a look.

Heather Bayer
Go over to Vacationrentalformula.com and take a look at our new website. We are pretty much live now. I am growing some new courses to go on the site. You'll be seeing them soon. You're going to be hearing more about that very soon. It's taken a while, but it is finally coming together and I'm so happy about that.

Heather Bayer
Okay, I hope you enjoyed that. I hope you go on and really, really enjoy the rest of your day and I'll see you again next week.

Mike Bayer
This episode was brought to you by the kind returning sponsorship of OwnerRez. Don't forget, if you sign up, use the promotional code VRF 30. That's VRF 3 0 to get 30% off your first three months of usage of OwnerRez, which is an internationally recognized leader in vacation rental software, and you can click the link in the description of this episode on your smart device or head over to Vacationrentalformula.com/OwnerRez to find out more.

Heather Bayer
It's been a pleasure as ever being with you. If there's anything you'd like to comment on, then join the conversation on the Show Notes for the episode at vacationrentalformula.com. We'd love to hear from you and I look forward to being with you again next week.

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