The idea

To build a website that adds information about access for those with disabilities onto maps of public buildings, transport and other places or facilities. Data could be taken from a range of sources, some of which might be already publicly available – for example from public transport providers or environmental agencies – but there could also be a significant user-generated aspect where individuals with a disability or their carers could input their own experiences into the site.

What social need does it address?

Information about disabled access can be poor quality and difficult to find. An accessibility map could become both a searchable resource for anyone with a disability travelling or visiting somewhere for the first time and a way to highlight the shortcomings of buildings, transport systems and other services in the UK so that they can be improved.

What’s new about it?

Information on disability access can be found online, but not in one place. Nor can this data compete in quantity and quality with user-generated information that the social web has the potential to provide.

What inspired you?

Making the UK accessible to people with disabilities is a challenge which lends itself extremely well to harnessing the social power of the web. Users who require disabled access are the people best placed to tell others how good the access to a building or service really is – the web can help them do this.