For a barrier-free society
The innovative Internet portal Wheelmap is committed to a barrier-free society.
Inclusion is a human right. Every person has a right to be an equal member of society. It is stated thus in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Germany was one of the first countries to sign the Convention in 2007 and ratify it in 2009. With a view to its concrete implementation, the Federal Government has drawn up a National Action Plan. The aim is to enable people with disabilities to participate on an equal basis in political, social, economic, and cultural life, to create equal opportunities in education and employment and give all citizens the possibility of a self-determined place in a barrier-free society.
Around every tenth person living in Germany is disabled, with 7.3 million people considered to be severely disabled. There are 1.6 million wheelchair users and 4.8 million people use a walker. These people are frequently unable to take part in society on account of a single step preventing easy access to a cinema, café, or bank. Given these circumstances, Sozialhelden, an association of socially committed people in Berlin, came up with the idea of Wheelmap, a map for wheelchair-accessible places. At www.wheelmap.org anybody can easily find and enter places and, using a traffic light system, mark them according to how accessible they are in a wheelchair. The map, which has existed since 2010, is also available as a free iPhone and Android app, and makes it easier for wheelchair users and people with other mobility restrictions to plan their day. There are over 350,000 cafés, libraries, swimming pools, not to mention many other publicly accessible places currently listed, with over 300 being added every day.
In the past two years the basic idea has become a small movement, in which anyone can get involved. Local groups, for example, organize mapping drives, with a view not only to marking places but also to striking up a conversation with shop owners. The latter are frequently unaware of the problem steps pose for people with mobility restrictions, meaning the helpers can introduce them to the topic of wheelchair accessibility and barrier freedom.
www.behindertenbeauftragter.de
