SociAbility maps out a more accessible future
by Startacus Admin
London-based startup SociAbility is on a mission to empower social inclusion through better accessibility information...
It is a sad fact that we do not do a good job of ensuring that our public places, shops, cafés, etc. are accessible for the 1.5 billion people worldwide who need them to be.
People who need venues to be accessible too often cannot find out whether they are or not with ease - no one should have to call a venue to find out whether they will be 
physically able to enter the place. So how can we make sure that the people who need to know about the accessibility of a location can easily get that information while also putting a little more pressure on venues to make themselves accessible?
London-based startup SociAbility has created an app to gather information about the accessibility of venues.
It uses standardised accessibility profiles for venues to make it quick and easy to see the accessibility details you need to know about and decide for yourself whether it means you are to go there or not.
Accessibility means different things to different people, and a review or owner’s statement that a place is accessible does not necessarily mean much, so the app gathers all of these details and data points to provide to you rather than trying to tell you whether it is or is not accessible. This information is crowd-sourced, and users can add details for bars, restaurants, etc. 
themselves to build the database.
The app allows users not only to look up a venue you are thinking of visiting, but also to search nearby venues based on their accessibility. As SociAbility says, better accessibility information highlights the barriers to social inclusion faced by people with access needs and reveals how easily these barriers can be overcome with the right planning, resources, and action.
In February, Toyota announced the four winners of its first ever Startup Awards for inclusive mobility solutions, and SociAbility was the UK winner, securing a place in the Toyota Accelerator programme and its training, mentoring, and funding.
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Published on: 13th June 2020
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