For people with physical disabilities, traveling sometimes comes with its own separate set of challenges – especially when you attempt to reserve hotel accommodations that claim to be wheelchair accessible but aren’t.
Matt McCann is hoping to change all of that. McCann is the creator of a mobile app called Access Earth, which allows people with mobility disabilities to rate restaurants, hotels, and tourist attractions around the world based on how wheelchair accessible they are.
The mobile app is still in the development stages and is already being touted as a sort of “TripAdvisor” for those with physical disabilities.
About Access Earth
Software engineer and wheelchair user, Matt McCann, first had the idea for Access Earth after booking a “wheelchair accessible” hotel only to discover that it was not wheelchair accessible. According to his interview with Huffington Post, McCann’s goal is to give people who have accessibility issues a more “equal experience of travel.” McCann, who has cerebral palsy, hopes that the mobile app will help other disabled people travel easier.
McCann mentioned how one of the first issues that needs to be addressed is how hotels define the term wheelchair accessibility. He cites the example of how a hotel may have a fully wheelchair accessible hotel room. However, the remainder of the hotel is largely inaccessible to wheelchair users (example: hotel restaurants, hotel bars, pools, etc.).
Helping People with All Disabilities
Presently, the mobile app is only focused on those who have physical disabilities and mobility challenges. However, McCann hopes to add other types of disabilities in the future, such as cognitive, and sensory disabilities.
Where to Find Access Earth
Access Earth is available in beta here.
You can follow Access Earth:
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- Planning Your Wheelchair Accessible Vacation to Myrtle Beach
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