Accessibility guides launched for 35 South East motorway service
Highways England and AccessAble have partnered for the pioneering guides
Accessibility guides have been creates for 35 motor way services in the South East.
Highways England has partnered with AccessAble, the UK’s leading provider of detailed accessibility information, to help motorists plan where to stop for a break at any one of the 114 motorway service areas across England, including 35 services in the South East.
The guides, which are available online and via the AccessAble app are ground breaking for disabled people who will now be able to plan travels with confidence.
They contain facts about the service building, figures, and photographs to help motorists understand the sites and whether they fit their needs.
Key areas including parking, toilets, petrol stations, shops, and restaurants, with detailed information on everything from parking and hearing loops, to walking distances and accessible toilets.
Gregory Burke, founder and Chair of AccessAble:
"This really is the world class bench mark standard for accessibility information.
"It is the first time a major transport industry has been covered with this level of depth and with this involvement of disabled people.
"This will give people the confidence the service meets their needs, there are so many things disabled people need to think about and it is difficult to appreciate the affect not knowing these things can have.
"This partnership delivers the freedom for people to know more, and go more."
For many years, disabled people and carers using the accessibility service have said how much they would value having access guides for motorway services, and what a difference comprehensive accessibility information would make to planning a trip.
In addition, Highways England and AccessAble have worked together to create virtual route guides for the services. This new type of guide, which uses 360-degree imagery, will enable visitors to ‘virtually’ explore routes to key facilities like accessible toilets and Changing Places, so they can find out exactly what to expect when they arrive.
Jules Horsler, Equalities, Inclusion and Diversity Officer for Highways England, explains that services form an important part of a safe journey:
"For us we want every single person on the road to have a safe journey, its the most important thing.
"Taking regular rest breaks for a key part of that and so we need to make sure disabled motorists and passengers can find services they can do that without anxiety of uncertainty.
"We have worked closely with service station providers who have really embraced this so we can really make sure the roads are for everyone."
Disability blogger and National Diversity Awards finalist, Kerry Thompson visited the Welcome Break services in Newport Pagnell to test out the guides.
Kerry has a rare form of muscular dystrophy and describes leaving home as a ‘military operation’. Kerry hopes to be able to have the freedom to be more spontaneous and take longer journeys to visit friends and family.
Describing her visit to Welcome Break on the M1 motorway near Newport Pagnell, Kerry said:
“The access guides are creating a world for us that’s safe, a world for us where we feel comfortable to be able to use the motorway services.
"It shows the disabled community that we aren’t just a forgotten community, that Highways England do care and that they’re there to support me on my journey’s. Them creating an accessible world for me to use is everything.”