Key Tourist Venues for People With Disabilities - Website Details Accessible Routes To Capitals Sights, UK

Main Category: Multiple Sclerosis
Also Included In: Public Health;  IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 14 Aug 2007 - 1:00 PST

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Directenquiries.com, the Nationwide Access Register, launches a new service for Londoners and their visitors. The website now provides a step by step route planner to some of London's key tourist venues, specifically aimed at people with disabilities, access issues and parents with pushchairs.

Following the success of the GOJO campaign, initiated by the Disability Rights Commission whereby directenquiries.com assessed five major cities, further routes have been assessed to include Buckingham Palace, the Churchill War Museum and Cabinet Rooms, HMS Belfast, the Imperial War Museum, the London Eye, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Science Museum, the Tower of London, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Westminster Abbey.

For each location, visitors are presented with symbols summarising the support facilities available together with details of the attraction and options for planning their route. The route planner service allows visitors to prioritise the obstacles they wish to avoid and presents a personalised route. Each journey planner clearly states the total distance in metres from the closest Underground station, includes an interactive map, annotated pictures and a step by step route description to the venues most accessible entrance. Where certain obstacles such as stairs cannot be avoided, the route planner clearly states the number of stairs to be negotiated and the presence of handrails.

This new facility complements the detailed information already available on directenquiries.com about London Underground's entire network, plus it enhances the access information about Exeter, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.

Wayne Trevor, Accessibility Development Manager, London Underground commented, "Built by the Victorians, the Underground wasn't designed with our current standards of accessibility in mind. Recognising this, London Underground has a long term strategy for investment and improvements to overcome these issues. The information gathered and published by directenquiries.com is part of this investment and enables passengers to workout their route in advance to avoid pre-filtered obstacles. Adding accessible routes to major tourist attractions is a logical progression and provides a comprehensive service to anyone with mobility issues."

Grant Kennedy, Chief Executive, directenquiries.com, commented on the new development, "The London attraction service is a natural extension to directenquiries.com. With the entire London Underground assessed for accessibility, it seemed a logical progression to link in some of the capital's key attractions."

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