Highways England Partner with AccessAble to provide Motorway Access Guides.
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, for better, safer journeys.
This is good news as for many years disabled people and carers using AccessAble have been asking for these guides, so it will make a huge difference to have comprehensive accessibility information to help when planning a trip.
The new guides, available online at this link https://www.accessable.co.uk/searches?query=Motorway+Services&location_query=&commit=Search or via the free AccessAble app, providing 100 per cent facts, figures, and photographs to help motorists plan their visit. They cover key areas including parking, toilets, petrol stations, shops, and restaurants, with detailed information on everything from staff training and hearing loops, to walking distances and Changing Places.
In addition, the two organisations have worked together to create virtual route guides. 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.
People with disabilities and carers know how important it is to plan their journey and to know where there are facilities that they can access. Highways England encourages everyone to plan before setting off. Planning for some people isn’t as easy as for others so these guides will help many of the UK’s disabled people and their carers. Disabled drivers represents five per cent of the driving population, so it is encouraging that these access guides are one of many new services Highways England is introducing to break down barriers and help people reliably plan and feel confident about their journeys.
“The new access guides will not only give people all the information they need to plan a trip but also support Highways England and motorway service operators to see how facilities could be improved in the future.”
All Access Guides are available free of charge on the AccessAble website. and on the AccessAble App.
You can watch and listen to a YouTube video here on what these Access Guides will mean to people https://youtu.be/MeV-08LSxLc