By Elizabeth OlneyPublished On: January 16, 2023Categories: EventsTags: able eyes, able eyes certification, accessibility, Accessible, anxiety, autism, Big Bear Adventures, Brentwood Lodge, Hometown Inn, Indian River, Inland Lakes Motel, local business, Northern Michigan, Northland Brewing, Northwoods Lodge, physical disabilities, ptsd, The Landings, Waterway Inn

The First Northern Michigan City, Indian River Becomes Able Eyes Accessible Certified

INDIAN RIVER, MI – Able Eyes, a Lansing, MI, based business that provides virtual walk-thru tours of the inside of public spaces for accessibility and marketing, is excited to announce Indian River, MI, is now an Able Eyes Accessible City, the first in Northern Michigan.

“Helping visitors answer the ‘knowing before going’ and embracing intentional inclusion to become a beacon of accessibility for those with disabilities was an important step for Indian River,” said Shiloh Slomsky, Executive Director of the Indian River Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Not only did our partnership with Able Eyes empower us to grow as a town of accessibility, but through Able Eyes’ 360-virtual tours and user-friendly platform, travelers from diverse places can experience visual slices of our hometown.”

This specific certification was made possible with a partnership with Pure Michigan and the Indian River Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. Some of the participating businesses you can now view virtual tours of in the Indian River area include Hometown Inn, The Landings, Brentwood Lodge, Waterway Inn, Inland Lakes Motel, Northwoods Lodge, Big Bear Adventures, and Northland Brewing.

Able Eyes and this Able Eyes Accessible certification is inspired by a place of accessibility to help people with both physical and invisible disabilities (Autism, Anxiety, PTSD) more easily access their community. Also, to travel by exploring places first from the comfort of home to assess accessibility and decrease anxiety before difficult or new transitions.

“As a former special education teacher working with students on the Autism Spectrum and a best friend and college roommate who was a wheelchair user, I really identified with a need for this type of accessibility in the world,” CEO and co-founder of Able Eyes, Meegan Winters, explained. “In 2017, Able Eyes was born with the mission to make the world more accessible both in local communities and for travelers, and that is what we will continue to do, one city at a time.”

To become certified as an Able Eyes Accessible city, a city must have a minimum of five dining, five lodging, and five attractions with virtual tours. This certification ensures visitors that they will have peace of mind in knowing they can view and explore places from the comfort of their homes before physically visiting.

For more information on the Able Eyes Accessible city certification and how to get your city certified, please visit https://ableeyes.org/about-virtual-tours/.

About Able Eyes

The mission of Able Eyes is to provide visual, state-of-the-art experiences/teaching tools for individuals with disabilities. Able Eyes provides a user-friendly platform to teach skills and explore environments from several different perspectives. Our ultimate goal is to increase the accessibility of businesses and public venues by offering visual walk-through tours, making them “Able Eyes Accessible.” Able Eyes is a virtual tour hosting website and app that functions similar to Yelp. Users are able to search locations in their area with virtual tours to “Know Before You Go.”