Making everywhere accessible to everyone
For those with mobility issues, climbing a flight of stairs is only part of the challenge – you also need to know when to expect them. “I use a walking frame to get around, and growing up, there was a lack of information about what places were accessible,” explains Matt McCann, CEO of Access Earth. Six years ago, he and Dónal McClean, co-founder and COO of the company, launched Access Earth, a free app which has collected up-to-date, crowdsourced accessibility information on over 110 000 shops, cafes and public buildings. As well as those with disabilities, the information can help parents with prams, and older people who use mobility aids. “We are building the world’s largest database of accessibility information,” says McClean. “We want to allow everyone to find accessibility information as easily as opening hours.” Access Earth was approached by the National University of Ireland Maynooth to join the EU-funded SHAPES (Smart and Healthy Ageing through People Engaging in Supportive Systems) consortium, a 4-year project that launched in November 2019. Thirty-six participants are working together to support the deployment of a broad range of digital solutions for independent living. By collecting and analysing individuals’ health, environmental and lifestyle information, SHAPES aims to build an interoperable platform to identify their needs and provide personalised solutions while maintaining individuals’ data protection. “One of the main goals of the SHAPES project is promoting healthy ageing throughout Europe,” says McCann. “We are using our app to demonstrate how the built environment at the moment can be bad for disabled users. People with accessibility issues are the largest minority user group, and we can help businesses access them, and their wallets,” he says. As well as crowdsourcing information, Access Earth also draws from other sources: the firm recently worked with the European Space Agency to identify the locations of accessible parking spots from satellite images and aerial photos. These were then mapped into a single database for the first time. Access Earth aims to license the data it has gathered to help local authorities and venue providers identify accessibility issues in their area, and learn how they can better serve visitors. The company hopes to launch a paid accreditation service next year that will highlight those venues which provide truly accessible spaces. In this way, the app can be kept free – and accessible – to all users.
Keywords
SHAPES, access earth, disabilities, accessibility, venues, independent, database, crowdsourced, cafes
