Innovation for inclusion
Meet five German projects whose innovative ideas are promoting inclusion.
Wheelmap.org – an collective inclusion map by the Sozialhelden charity
Wheelmap is a free online map which tells users if a location is wheelchair accessible or not. Collaboration is front and centre in the service, so users can add entries and reviews for public places. But it isn’t just wheelchair users who benefit from the inclusive service. Anyone who uses a walking frame or has kids in a buggy can use the map to plan their trip quickly and easily.
Nod and drive: Munevo Gmbh
A brief nod of the head - and off you go. It seems almost like magic when wheelchair users set off with munevo DRIVE. There is more technology than magic behind the Munich start-up’s smart control system, however. Smart glasses translate movements of the head into electronic commands and control the electric wheelchair. Add-ons allow a smartphone or smart home function to be incorporated into the control system: Phone calls can be conducted or lights switched on or off via commands users give with their head. Munevo DRIVE is manufactured in Germany and developed in close collaboration with users.
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Open consent formHelp Tech – help for eyes and backs
Inclusion is a way of life at Help Tech. A fifth of the staff are blind or have a visual impairment. With branches in Stuttgart, Marburg, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin, the company is a global leader in developing and manufacturing aids for blind and visually impaired people. The company has developed an innovative braille row, the “Activator”, as part of a keyboard for people with visual impairments. The most recent addition to the company’s range is the BionicBack, an exoskeleton that takes some of the load for people with back problems.
Barrier-free online: Eye-Able – Web Inclusion GmbH
An internet for everyone – that’s Eye-Able’s vision. A software tool with 25 functions aims to improve the accessibility of websites. A screen reader reads texts aloud. Font sizes and background colours can be individually adjusted. A visual filter changes the contrast on the website, allowing people with red-green colour blindness to better recognise colour differences. Eye-Able has been incorporated into more than 10,000 web interfaces to date. Over 15,000,000 people a month are therefore able to profit from this inclusive tool.
Cinema for everyone: Greta & Starks Apps GmbH
Inclusion also means being able to participate in social and cultural life. This is where the GRETA app created by the Berlin-based company Greta & Starks Apps comes in: it makes it possible for people with visual and hearing impairments to go to the cinema. The app provides subtitles for films that can be read on the user’s smartphone. Furthermore, the app uses a voice output function to describe and explain scenes in the film, from dialogues to settings. Cinema enthusiasts can use the app in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Brazil, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, the USA and Ukraine – and more countries are being added all the time.
