News

AAT & The First Group Are Transforming Hospitality For Deaf Tourists

The collaboration will bring several innovative solutions to existing MENA establishments, including accessible booking and comprehensive sign-language support.

Published

3 years ago

October 2, 2023

Nour Nasir

att and the first group are transforming hospitality for deaf tourists

Amsaan Accessible Tours (AAT) is the first company in the MENA region to specialize in unique tourism experiences for Deaf people. Now, the company has joined forces with The First Group, one of the MENA region’s fastest-growing hospitality investors and providers, in a bid to enhance accessibility across its chain of hotels for Deaf tourists staying in Dubai and beyond.

AAT’s standout product is an accessible booking platform that includes comprehensive sign-language support. Deaf tourists using British Sign Language (BSL) can use the system to easily make reservations, smoothly check in to hotels, and even request room service or emergency assistance through the AAT mobile app.

The First Group, a brand renowned for its upscale properties, including The First Collection Business Bay, Wyndham Dubai Marina, and TRYP by Wyndham Dubai, will integrate AAT’s cutting-edge accessible booking platform with all its existing hospitality brands in Dubai.

“The First Group and Amsaan Accessible Tours share core values of inclusivity, diversity, and equal opportunities in hospitality for all. We are driven by our commitment to provide exceptional experiences to our guests, and we look forward to championing responsible tourism and reinforcing our dedication to state-of-the-art hospitality”, explained Karim Abdelhamid, Vice President of Hotel Operations at The First Group.

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Oleksandr Koltsov, Chief Executive Officer of Amsaan Accessible Tours, added: “This partnership represents a monumental step forward in AAT’s mission to break down barriers for Deaf travelers. Our accessibility solutions will reach a wider audience, making a positive impact not only on individual guests but also on the broader hospitality industry. It should serve as a model for other hotels to follow suit in prioritizing universal accessibility. With The First Group, we are reshaping the hospitality landscape with the power of innovation and technology, ensuring Deaf guests can explore the world with ease and confidence”.

The collaboration with First Group comes as AAT is poised to expand further across the UAE and beyond, with future partnership options being negotiated with hotel chains, tourist attractions, and even airlines.

News

Instagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”

Instagram’s first wordmark refresh in a decade arrives with new fonts, a restrained gradient — and a Reddit verdict of sidegrade.

Published

4 days ago

August 14, 2026

Nour Nasir

Instagram

Although Instagram’s famous camera icon hasn’t changed, the company has refreshed the handwritten wordmark at the top of its app. This is the first redesign we’ve seen in ten years, and one the internet promptly set about renaming.

“The wordmark at the top of the app hasn’t changed in 10 years, so it was time for a refresh,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote in a post on August 13, describing the new version as “cleaner and more modern” while keeping references to the original design.

Instagram says its team explored hundreds of options — all-caps lettering, camera-inspired concepts, even literal handwriting — before returning to script. “Script reflects individuality, so referencing that felt right,” Instagram director of product design Jasmine Probst said in Meta’s announcement. “The new wordmark is bolder and simpler, with touches of unexpectedness. It cues individual expression, a personal voice, both of which have always been core to Instagram”.

The wordmark is part of a broader brand overhaul: an updated Instagram Sans typeface, two new fonts — the hand-drawn Instagram Pen and Instagram Mono — plus refreshed motion and layouts, and more restrained use of the signature gradient. The wordmark is rolling out globally now, with the rest arriving throughout 2026 and beyond.

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The design mixes cursive and print lettering, some characters connected and others floating free. That hybrid approach, combined with unusually shaped “s” and “r” characters, led some users to conclude the logo actually reads “Instagzam”. On the r/logodesign subreddit, one user said the wordmark looked “fan-made,” like something built in Canva; another called it “an unsettling mix of manuscript and cursive”; a third summarized it as a “sidegrade” — or, inevitably, a “zidegrade”.

Not everyone was hostile to the new look. Some found the half-cursive design stylish and surprisingly readable, while others called it an improvement on its predecessor, and one commenter argued Instagram was simply adopting minimalist branding later than everyone else. Either way, the platform now has a refreshed identity, three updated fonts, and an unofficial new pronunciation.