Navigating Walmart While Blind

I thought I'd share my plans for this upcoming Saturday as maybe it will help you.

I need to have exact cash for an upcoming paratransit ride. This isn't my normal paratransit service that is still free until June 2026, this is a more regional paratransit service that works outside my local area.


There is a flat fee of $5 each way, which is much cheaper than using Lyft or Uber and its about the same pickup and return times as what I'm used to with services like Go Durham Access. Its something that I need exact change for and I haven't needed to do that in awhile.


I am not a customer of any local bank and got to thinking what to do. Then it came to me. I can use the Aira app at Walmart for free, have fun doing a little shopping and get cash back when I checkout and ask for that in $5 bills, I'm only getting $30 cash back at the most and if I can only get a mix of $5 and $1 bills, that is no big deal.


I am taking my regular local paratransit service to get to and from Walmart, I have that trip scheduled for Saturday. I told them I want to be there around 1 pm and return home at 2 pm. Its just a quick trip, no exploring on this one. I will have the Aira agent guide me to the bakery and find some no sugar added mini apple pies, these are only $0.84 each, so I'll grab a couple if Walmart is out of those, my next item is the no sugar added large 4 count blueberry muffins, they are around $4 to $5.


Then I'll tell the Aira agent I am ready to checkout and we will had back to the front of the store. I have never done the self checkout and don't know how that would go with getting cash back so just plan on going through a regular checkout line.

Next after checking the time I might go over to SubWay and pickup two cookies, one for me and one for my Wife. Depending on the time before my return trip at 2 pm I'll either sit inside 

Subway or have the Aira agent take me outside to wait for my ride home. If I wait at Subway I'll get another Aira agent to help me outside when its closer to that time.


So for this trip I paid nothing to ride there or home on my local paratransit, got $30 out in cash back and bought a couple mini apple pies and maybe some cookies at Subway. A nice outing with independence thanks to Aira.


Oh, you are asking what is Aira? I hear you, I shouldn't assume everyone knows about them. Aira is a service available to Android and Iphone users that does many services for their low vision or blind customers. Usually there is a cost for using the service but some locations like Walmart, nationwide, make it free to use. That free use of Aira at walmart includes the parking lot and sidewalk going into the store. Aira can also read things on your computer, log in to click on a check box that is being difficult, read your bank statement, letter from your doctor and much more. I once had them help me get around on a half a mile walk to the leasing office where I lived.
They are a professional service, bonded and have many super powers like finding a product manual online or having the map to a Walmart store so they can find where the bakery is from the front of the store.
I am so thankful to Walmart for making the use of Aira free while at their store. To start things have the Aira app installed and setup and it should alert you that you are in a free zone and direct you into contacting an Aira agent.
For more on Aira go to
https://aira.io/

-- 

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I’ll be sharing more like this — along with my mission through the galaxies of accessibility, blindness retraining, and certification to become an assistive technology instructor. 

That journey will take me to World Services for the Blind, and I’ll be chronicling it at www.AccessITales.blog 

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