15 replies to this topic

[sgrunt]

Hi all, i'd like to show you the beta version of a new resource about travel + disability. It is www.rollsquare.com and in my opinion is an innovative way to share our accessible places.
People can add their experienced wheelchair-friendly places (hotels, attractions, public toilets, etc..) if they are located in the available cities list. Places are geolocalized on city maps. When travellers are on destination, they can use the free web app for mobile (iphone, android, etc..), to easily locate accessible places nearby.

We're starting (beta version actually) covering Rome, London and Barcelona, since i've had a direct experience and i can add my places, but as soon as the website will grow the goal is to cover much more cities (from all over the world).

I'd like to know what do you think about, and asking you to add your accessible places too.
Surely there are some mispellings and bugs in this early release, please help me to fix them.

Thanks all

Edited by sgrunt, 08 April 2011 - 08:51 AM.

[bruceofmaui]

Hi I saw your post and I tried to add my accessible condo on Maui. My website is www.mauiaccessiblecondo.com so please check it out. I also noticed you are working with google maps so check even more accessible info about Maui so check out my google map at http://maps.google.c...1e760b6e69&z=10 Good luck with your venture. aloha Bruce

[sgrunt]

Hi Bruce, thanks for your interest. Actually we cover only a few cities: Rome, London, Barcelona (the website is in pre-release), because we start adding venues that we've directly tested. When visitors will start adding their accessible places we will expand this destination's list. Unfortunately the location of your beautiful condo isn't listed yet.

If you think you can add a lot of accessible places located in Maui (accomodations,attractions,place where to eat and drink, transports, etc...), please contact me and i'll add Maui to the destination's list, so you could add your places from yourself.

Aloha

Marco

[guido]

Looks like a good resource and well put together. Still looking through - hardest part of these user reviews is standardising recommendations so that one persons paradise isn't another's purgatory. But it looks as though your ratings & reviews on each page is easy to use and counters this issue. I hope you do really well and make enough to develop an app once the initial mobile version has proven itself.


I will happily give you a news feature on the http://DisabledGear.com/ homepage. Just need upto 50 words, a square image and the URL you want to link to. Send it via PM or email.


Are you on Twitter?

[sgrunt]

Thanx Guido, i'm preparing the contents to send you.
Yes you're right, standardising reviews it is not easy, serious accessibility reviews should include full measures, pendence calculations, and so on. But i think that if a person on wheelchair reviews a venue saying: "it's ok, i've been there and i haven't had problems", this could be an useful starting indication for other travellers, although a bit simpler. Obviously then you can ask to hotel or restaurant for more details, but you know, none wants to fill a complex and rich form on a website, and maybe none remembers the door or lift measures of an hotel.

In my idea, Rollsquare is a sort of Foursquare "on wheels", where users can add places with not too much effort, and at the same time help other travellers. There are a lot of accessibility guides around on the web, but i've based Rollsquare on my experience. When we choose a destination, we have an hard work for tracking accessible hotel position, calculate how much distant are the main attractions, where we can use public toilets, etc.. So, putting these resources on a map is my natural way to be helpful.

Surely if the website will be succesful, i'll think about app developing.

PS: once the website will be tested from real users i'll create twitter and facebook accounts.

Edited by sgrunt, 09 April 2011 - 01:37 PM.

[sgrunt]

Some updates: we've added Facebook integration for logins, badges to unlock (like Foursquare), groups, and much more. Now we need accessible places to add: i'm doing a nice work about Rome, but we still want to cover at least London, Barcelona, Prague, Dublin and other destinations will be added as soon as the website grows.

[ads]

Wow! I think I am addicted to this site already! Amber and I have been travelling for the last 2 years and this site is perfect for our needs. To just be able to log on via our phone to find a toilet when we are in a new city would be SUCH a blessing! Especially in Europe. I really hope everyone adds as much information as they can Well done!

[sgrunt]

Thanx Addy: you and Amber are giving a GREAT support and i cannot thank you enough!

[sgrunt]

we've added to the destination's list: Rome, London, Barcelona, Prague, Edinburgh, Dublin, Phuket. If you want to add your touristic city because you know it well and you can add a lot of accessible places...just tell me!

Edited by sgrunt, 02 July 2011 - 12:47 PM.

[sgrunt]

Just a little update: we've added Istanbul to our accessible maps. This should be particular useful since there are not many resources about the accessibility of this wonderful town. We need your help and contribute: please add your accessible restaurants, toilets, attractions, hotel and trasports in order to build the biggest map for travelers in a wheelchair. If you wish to add places but your town isn't listed yet, please ask me!

I forgot: now we have a Facebook page too.

Edited by sgrunt, 19 November 2011 - 07:12 AM.

[lifeisgood]

This is really Awesome,,,I want to go to Phuket! I will be contributing )

Thanks for sharing! and best wishes! you don;t need luck..as your perserverance will get you where you want to go! )

[sgrunt]

Hi guys: we've just added New York City and Taiwan to Rollsquare, so if you know some accessible places to add it would be great!

[zbowdawg]

Awesome tool... are there any thoughts of expanding the site to include travel tips/experiences on how to get to all the wonderful places being listed?

[Ches]

Awesome!! I came online, feeling all sorry for myself, that I'll never get to experience the world with the same quality of an AB.. Exactly what I needed to see!

[Courtney]

how about adding Florida, or Hilton Head South Carolina, we stayed at a wonderful accesible beach house in HH

[sgrunt]

@zbowdawg this is an idea, i hope we could develop it soon. At the moment we have a desperate need to fill city maps with your accessible places and it is the actual main goal

@Ches really thanks!

@Courtney we add new city maps as soon as users write us, confirming they can fill it with accessible places. If you can write at least 10 accessibility reviews for a specific city we will add it!

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We've just added NY City to Rollsquare (our first U.S. entry), and we really need your accessibilty reviews about the Big Apple locations!