People with disabilities can see through the app unhindered in advance whether a store or restaurant is accessible. In the municipality of Coevorden this is mapped by scout and ambassador Karin Duinkerken.
Sitting on her mobility scooter, she tries to enter a store. “No, see, I get stuck. I will not succeed.” She gets off and uses her walking stick. “Fortunately I can still do that.” The threshold takes the photo and Dunkirk steps into the store.
For people with disabilities, many a threshold can already be a big obstacle. “Suppose you have planned to eat out and I can’t go in there. Then I will stop and I have to look for something else. Now I can see in advance in the app or the place is accessible, whether I can sit, move or go to the toilet. That is completely super,” says Duinkerken.
In the app is on the map every place visited by an explorer throughout the Netherlands. After a visit one of the ambassadors comes by to talk to the owner. If an entrepreneur wants to cooperate, an accessibility expert comes by for a report and tips are given.
In the end, the business visited will receive a quality mark and good photos are taken. They can be found on the site and in the app of unhindered. Duinkerk: “This only provides benefits and it costs nothing at all. The municipality of Coevorden and SMEs pay, so take your chance.”
According to her, most adjustments are not even very large, but they make a world of difference for people with disabilities. “Sometimes it is a matter of moving a flower box or a stepping and off at a threshold, but there are also things that the entrepreneur cannot do anything about,” she says go on too high sidewalks.
The project of the municipality of Coevorden runs until 1 October. For that time, Dunkirk tries to visit all entrepreneurs where she has already explored. Entrepreneurs who missed them can also register themselves. In addition, even more scouts are also looking for unhindered.