Enhanced Airport Accessibility Experience for Visually Impaired Passengers by TAV
TAV Airports has collaborated with WeWALK to enhance the accessibility of airports for visually impaired passengers. As part of this collaboration, visually impaired passengers at Antalya, Ankara Esenboğa, İzmir Adnan Menderes, Milas-Bodrum, and Gazipaşa-Alanya airports operated by TAV in Türkiye can receive free description and guidance support from professional assistants through the DANIŞ Visual Support Service via a mobile application.
TAV Airports, Türkiye's leading brand in airport operations, has added its collaboration with the DANIŞ Visual Support Service developed by WeWALK to its efforts to provide the best travel experience for everyone. With this agreement, visually impaired passengers can benefit from the DANIŞ service, which provides expert description and guidance support through the WeWALK mobile application, free of charge at airports in which TAV operates. The application has been implemented at Antalya, Ankara Esenboğa, İzmir Adnan Menderes, Milas-Bodrum, and Gazipaşa-Alanya airports, aiming to enable visually impaired passengers to equally benefit from the services offered at airports and move independently. TAV Airports, which operates 15 airports in 8 countries, aims to expand the application to airports abroad as well.
TAV Airports CEO Serkan Kaptan said, " At TAV Airports, we strive to provide the best possible travel experience to all our passengers. Freedom of travel is a fundamental right and our passengers are all different, but equal. With this understanding, we consider it our primary responsibility to ensure that all airport services are accessible to every passenger. Through our collaboration with "Danış," we are happy to support visually impaired passengers in navigating the airport independently and enhance their overall experience. Currently implemented at our five airports in Türkiye, we plan to expand this cooperation to our international operations soon. Our goal is to lead the way in promoting accessible travel throughout our industry and raise social awareness on this important issue."
Kürşat Ceylan, Co-Founder of WeWalk stated, "As the WeWALK team, we are taking our artificial intelligence technologies further with our DANIŞ video assistant service developed for visually impaired individuals. TAV Airports also pioneers the implementation of innovative technologies as a partner of DANIŞ. We believe that the 280,000 visually impaired individuals in Türkiye and the 253 million worldwide deserve an accessible world just like everyone else. I invite other companies to join our DANIŞ partner network for a more accessible and inclusive world."
About DANIŞ
DANIŞ allows visually impaired individuals to receive video support from professional assistants using the cameras of smartphones whenever they need it. Developed by the WeWALK team, which previously created the smart cane technology for visually impaired individuals and was selected as the invention of the year by TIME magazine and awarded the Gold Award by the Edison Foundation.
You can access the DANIŞ feature through the relevant tab in the WeWALK application, available in application stores. By clicking the "Connect to Assistant" button, you can start using the DANIŞ service. When you connect to DANIŞ for the first time, you will be asked to grant camera and microphone permissions. After granting these permissions, the rear camera will automatically activate, and you can start receiving minute-based services. DANIŞ can perform various tasks such as identifying objects in your surroundings, assisting with navigation, reading texts, and providing general information.
The WeWalk team continues to expand the DANIŞ Partner network, aiming to provide free services to visually impaired individuals at more locations and enhance the application with artificial intelligence infrastructure. For more information, you can visit www.wewalk.io/danis.
About TAV Airports
A global brand in financing, developing and operating airports, TAV welcomed 78.5 million passengers in 2022. A member of Groupe ADP, TAV Airports is part of the leading airport management platform globally. The company operates 15 airports in eight countries –Türkiye, N. Macedonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Latvia, Saudi Arabia and Croatia. Through its subsidiaries, TAV provides integrated services in all areas of airport operations, including duty-free, food and beverage, ground handling, IT, private security and hospitality services. The company is quoted on Istanbul Stock Exchange and featured on the BIST Sustainability Index. TAV Airports is committed to achieving net zero emissions in 2050.
