Wheelmap.org is an online, worldwide map for finding and marking wheelchair accessible places, developed by the German

nonprofit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

Sozialhelden e.V. Anyone can find and add public places to the map and rate them according to a simple traffic light system. The map, which is based on

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (abbreviated OSM) is a free, Open Database License, open geographic database, map database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveying, surveys, trace from Ae ...

, was created in 2010 by a team around

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

Raul Krauthausen Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...

to help people who use wheelchairs or wheeled walkers to plan their days more easily. Parents pushing a baby carriage can also benefit from the Wheelmap information. Currently almost 600,000 public places worldwide can be found on the map. About 300 new places are added on a daily basis. Wheelmap is available on the website and as an app for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

and

Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design languag ...

Tagging

Anyone can mark

Points of Interest A point of interest (POI) is a specific point location that someone may find useful or interesting. An example is a point on the Earth representing the location of the Eiffel Tower, or a point on Mars representing the location of its highest ...

(bus stations, restaurants, cinemas, museums, banks, government offices, etc.). according to their wheelchair accessibility on Wheelmap. A simple

traffic light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

system is used to rate the wheelchair accessibility of a place: The markings are inserted by using the simple

system: Places that have not yet been rated on their wheelchair accessibility are marked gray. They can be marked quickly and easily by anyone, without prior registration. Registered users can add photos or comments with further details about the wheelchair accessibility of a place Registered users can add images to a location and write a comment with further details about the wheelchair accessibility of the place. ''Wheelmap.org'' focuses on the relevant accessibility information and is not limited to wheelchair specific locations, such as therapy centers or toilets. Instead, wheelchair users should be include in

everyday life Everyday life, daily life or routine life comprises the ways in which people typically act, think, and feel on a daily basis. Everyday life may be described as mundane, routine, natural, habitual, or Normality (behavior), normal. Human diurna ...

, focusing on public places of daily life including cafes, clubs, theaters, and basic public services, including

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

, government offices and banks. Similar to Wikipedia, the user enters the information such that everyone helps to grow this tool from the bottom up.

Awards

* 2010 The INCA (Innovative and Creative Application) Award * 2011 Vodafone's Smart Accessibility Award * 2011 Werkstatt N - Award of the Council for Sustainable Development (Germany) * 2011 As one of the ''365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas'' (founded by the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

and the BDI * 2012

World Summit Award The World Summit Awards (WSA) rewards Information and Communications Technologies projects that have a positive impact on society at the local level. The award was initiated in 2003, within the framework of the United Nations World Summit on the ...

(section mobile-inclusion & Empowerment) * 2013 Zedler-Price for

free knowledge Open knowledge (or free knowledge) is knowledge that is free to use, reuse, and redistribute without legal, social, or technological restriction. Open knowledge organizations and activists have proposed principles and methodologies related to the ...

(Wikimedia Germany) * 2014 The first European Award for Social Entrepreneurship and DisabilityThe-first-european-award-for-social-entrepreneurship-and-disability
, Retrieved 14 September 2014 (title ''Highly Commended by the Jury'' to Raul Krauthausen for the project ''Wheelmap.org'')

References

External links

* *
Wheelmap
on

facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Wheelmap.org
at the Website of

Handicap International Humanity & Inclusion (formerly Handicap InternationalOn January 24th 2018, the global Handicap International network changed its name and became Humanity & Inclusion. This was done "to communicate more effectively on the diversity of its activiti ...

(de)
Wheelmap
at the site of the German Wheelchair Sports Association (a part of the

National Paralympic Committee Germany National Paralympic Committee Germany () is responsible for Germany's participation in the Paralympic Games. The DBS represents rehabilitation sports, popular sports, and professional sports. Football 5-a-side To raise awareness, players from B ...

)
Wheelmap.org

Video clip Video clip may refer to: *Short videos, especially short-form content ** Video clip (online media), a short snippet of a video uploaded on the internet *A music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that ...

Focus (German magazine) ''Focus'' (stylized in all caps) is a German-language news magazine published by Hubert Burda Media. Established in 1993 as an alternative to the ''Der Spiegel'' weekly news magazine, since 2015 the editorial staff has been headquartered in Germ ...

online
About wheelmap.org
(de) - B.Z. (newspaper)
About wheelmap.org
-

article Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article(s) may also refer to: ...

in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' (in 2011) {{OpenStreetMap Android (operating system) software Web Map Services Transportation planning Accessibility information German travel websites OpenStreetMap