Have you made plans for a day out, packed everything in the car, brought your scooter or wheelchair in the boot, driven for a good hour or two, only to get to your location and be unable to get through the entrance or maybe been unable to stay for long because they have no accessible bathrooms? Google have created a solution that should fix that issue for you. Even if you used to call ahead everywhere or do your own research online, Google Maps has added a nice time-saving feature.
Accessible Places
Launched as a part of Google's ambition to create a map with special features made for everyone, the Accessible Places feature allows you to click on a location (e.g. a supermarket or cafe) and check whether a wheelchair logo shows up under the name of the place which signals that the place is wheelchair accessible.
More info on how accessible the location is can be found by scrolling down.
How to turn it on
To turn this on you need to go into the Google Maps app, this works on both Apple and Android phones, click on your profile picture in the top right then click 'Settings'.
On the settings page, click 'Accessibility settings', then turn on 'Accessible Places'.
What if a location isn't wheelchair accessible?
If a place isn't wheelchair accessible, then the symbol next to the name will be a wheelchair that is crossed-out.
How reliable is this?
Google strive to keep their information up-to-date and accurate, however, a significant portion of this information is contributed by users of Google Maps so there will be instances where it is inaccurate. We recommend that if you are travelling particularly far or to less popular locations, then perhaps check this information by calling up the location.
Information sourced from:
https://blog.google/products/maps/wheelchair-accessible-places-google-maps/
Thiis Magazine 17 June 2020
Images sourced from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oWsAMwJ-ks
