This Travel Website Makes Travel Much Easier For Travelers With Disabilities

Navigating the world can be quite the challenge for people with disabilities, since our world is not exactly build for everyone. Travel in particular has been complicated, but a new website is looking to make planning and embarking on a trip much easier for everyone.

Wheel the World has become one of the leading sources to empower people with disabilities since it launched in 2018. Now, it has a new feature called accessibility mapping system (AMS) that will help accomplish even more.

Users can customize their personal accessibility profiles and the website will automatically generate compatible trips for them. That includes things to do, places to stay, and available tours, all of which will cater to the individual’s specific needs.

This applies to over 50 destinations and includes wheelchair accessibility, braille signage, transcription requirements, building entry specifics, bed heights, adaptive equipment availability, and any special room needs.

Best of all, the information is crowdsourced through mappers that visit data points and log all of the information directly on the Wheel the World app.

Wheel the World’s co-founder and COO shared: “Thanks to our volunteer mappers, we have the most thorough and up-to-date accessibility information of any online travel site. Having this information so readily available is a game changer for travelers with disabilities. What might have taken them hours to research in the past, can now take just minutes.”

Wheel the World was founded by a group of students at UC Berkley after they crowdfunded for a special wheelchair that would allow their friend (who became quadriplegic after a car accident) to join them on a trip to Torres del Paine National Park in Chile.

Since then, the company has helped thousands of travelers from 10 different counties navigate through over 40 different destinations. This even includes helping people in wheelchairs travel through Machu Picchu.

Wheel the World hopes to expand even more. Co-founder Alvaro Silberstein wrote: “The redesign of our website features a user experience focused on our travelers’ needs and expanded information to empower seniors and people with disabilities to travel with confidence. Accurate accessibility information and customer support representatives who understand the needs of this community are key to breaking down barriers to travel.”