AccessAble Yorkshire is Go!

By Carrie-Ann Lightley – Tue, 04 December 2018

AccessAble has launched its brand-new website and App for Yorkshire!

The launch event, hosted by Sheffield City Council, brought together disabled people, disability organisations and AccessAble’s partners to showcase the new App and website. They feature 1,000s of places across the region, all visited and assessed by AccessAble’s surveyors.

Speaking about the need for the service disabled vlogger, Kat Pemberton said

'After attending the Yorkshire launch, I can confidently say that I feel encouraged to wheel out of my comfort zone as I fully trust the people behind AccessAble. I do have to admit that over the years, whenever certain venues have failed to accommodate the appropriate facilities, I have felt unwelcome. It can be a huge knock on my confidence and this has resulted in me becoming a creature of habit. I find that I tend to fall into routines and limit myself from visiting any unknown locations. But I’m now just a quick click away from finding the nearest accessible gin bar for cocktails with the girls or a causal restaurant for a family meal. I no longer have to spend hours trying to arrange an outing to an unfamiliar location. Which is great as not only has it encouraged me to explore new places, it will help avoid any unnecessary anxiety in the future. The team at AccessAble have made it their mission to restore the confidence of people like myself and improve businesses, to unite and harmonise our daily lives as a society. You can tell how much passion and drive the team at AccessAble have. I often worry that the people behind an amazing idea may not have their hearts fully invested in their work, but you can rest assured that these guys do.'

Speaking about the launch, AccessAble’s Executive Director, Anna Nelson said,

‘AccessAble exists is to provide detailed information to venues throughout the UK, so that disabled people, carers and anyone who needs to know more about accessibility can find out if a place will be right for them. We are passionate about delivering our social mission and helping more of the c.20m people in the UK who have accessibility requirements. We believe our new website, App and name is key to achieving that.

We are fortunate to work with a fantastic range of committed partners and disability organisations across Yorkshire. We hope they will inspire others to place accessibility at the heart of inclusive information provision.’

Speaking about the launch and their ambitions for the city, Councillor Olivia Blake, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance at Sheffield City Council said,

‘We have a vision for Sheffield to be the fairest city in Britain, where all people feel included and are able to access what this city has to offer.

As part of our commitment to promoting independence we began working with AccessAble in 2014. The service provides crucial, practical information that enables our residents and visitors to make the most of Sheffield, lowering the anxiety and challenges of visiting somewhere unfamiliar. Last year alone our guides were used more than 38,000 times.

It’s fantastic to see the how far the development of the guides has come today and the new app means this information is accessible on the go which we know will help thousands of residents and visitors to Sheffield and beyond.’

AccessAble's Yorkshire Partners in a group photo displaying AccessAble plaques

The new website and App has been made possible thanks to funding from NHS Property Services, Andrew Flett, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility commented,

“Every week millions of patients, their carers and their families visit NHS properties managed and owned by NHS Property Services. It’s important to us that all visitors have the information they need to make their stay as stress-free as possible. This is particularly important to those members of the public with additional accessibility needs. Through our three-year partnership with AccessAble we’re increasing the number of NHS sites with online user guides and are delighted that we’ve been able to fund development of the new website and mobile App which will be a useful resource for all patients, staff and visitors to our buildings.”

As part of the launch AccessAble have published an important survey that highlights the vital need for better accessibility information. The survey revealed that 99% of disabled people want to know about accessibility before visiting a new place and 98% search for accessibility information in advance. You can see the full results here https://www.accessable.co.uk/articles/new-survey-highlights-major-accessibility-gap-for-uk-s-20-million-disabled-people-and-carers

To check out the new service simply visit the website at www.AccessAble.co.uk or download the AccessAble App from the Apple Store or Google Play Store. If you have any feedback you can contact AccessAble at [email protected], message us on social media or give us a call on 01438 842710.

Notes

AccessAble – What We Do

AccessAble, originally called DisabledGo, is a national disability organisation. We are the UK's Accessibility Guide and we are here to take the chance out of going out.

We cover 10,000s of places and our Guides are available free at www.AccessAble.co.uk and on the AccessAble App.

AccessAble – Our History

AccessAble was set up in 2000 by Dr. Gregory Burke as a result of his own experiences as a wheelchair user and disabled walker. Gregory was frustrated to find that the best-case scenario when he looked for accessibility information was a few unhelpful words that only resulted in more uncertainty.

Working alongside over 100 different disability groups Gregory launched DisabledGo's first website in 2002. Since then the organisation has grown and developed, continually meeting and listening to its user community.

By 2018 DisabledGo was used by over 1.5 million people each year to plan a visit or trip out. Thousands of people continued to shape the service getting involved in DisabledGo's engagement events and social media channels.

In June 2018 we began to build our new website and IOS and Android Apps. These launched in October 2018, alongside the new AccessAble Brand.

The Survey

845 people responded to the ‘Accessibility and You’ survey. This is one of the largest and most comprehensive accessibility surveys in recent years. The survey was carried out in the summer of 2018 and took on average 20 minutes to complete.