Rick Hansen Foundation launches accessibility website

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The locally-based Rick Hansen Foundation has come up with a website designed to help people with disabilities.

Planat is being compared to “Yelp” or “Trip Advisor”, but for accessibility issues.

The site features ratings of 45,000 locations in 41 different countries.

“We do reviews of venues and places that you visit with your friends and family, but from the perspective of mobility, hearing, and vision impairments,” says Marco Pasqua, Marketing and Community Manager for Planat.

Recent provincial funding means means ambassadors are now able to do on-site accessibility assessments across British Columbia.

“The BC government gave us $125,000 to hire six assessors – who have disabilities themselves – to go across the province and rate more than 300 venues,” adds Pasqua.

They’re also working on plans to launch a Planat cell-phone app in 2015 to make their information available for mobile users.

“If you’re somebody with mobility impairment or dexterity issues, if you have to sit there and try to navigate through a computer – or if you’re on the go and you want to write a review – it’s just not convenient to bring a laptop with you everywhere.”

Pasqua, who has Cerebral Palsy and has been using a wheelchair his entire life, says this is about awareness on every level. “There are lots of people our there with disabilities like myself who are hard-working individuals and just want to get out there and spend their hard-earned money, but they currently just don’t have access to some of these awesome places.”

“Helping business owners at-large understand the need – but also the value – in catering to people, not just with disabilities; but think about mothers with strollers and the aging population too.”

It is believed 33 per cent of the world’s population is affected by some kind of accessibility issue.

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