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seven schemes supporting those travelling with
disabilities receive funding
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innovative projects include help for passengers using
sign language
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Transport Accessibility Minister welcomes initiatives which
will help make railways accessible to everyone
A series of innovative, high-tech schemes, including an augmented
reality project to support people who use sign language on train
journeys, will be developed after winning a government-funded
competition.
The app, Signly, will use the latest software to give people who
are deaf or hard of hearing access to essential written travel
and safety notices by delivering signed content directly to their
smart phone or tablet.
Signly will be developed as part of the Department for
Transport’s commitment to improving journeys for disabled rail
passengers. It is one of 7 projects announced today (26 June
2018) which will receive funding to make their ideas a reality.
Other projects to receive start-up funding include Nodality — a
website that is set to give disabled passengers and carers all
the information they need to understand how accessible a station
is.
, Transport Accessibility
Minister, said:
I am determined to make sure that our railways are accessible
to everyone, and that we remove any barriers faced by people
with a disability.
Everyone deserves the right to travel independently and with
confidence. I am delighted that these innovative projects have
been picked to improve people’s journeys, and look forward to
seeing how they benefit passengers in the years to come.
The list of projects to receive a share of £600,000 funding is:
- Accessibility Evaluation Survey for Stations (ACCESS): a
tool to help those responsible for station accessibility to
identify problems and prioritise improvements
- Less Visible Impairments (LVIS): a study to be carried
out into increasing frontline staff’s understanding about the
difficulties faced by passengers with hidden disabilities, such
as dementia
- Rail4All: an app to help station staff prioritise requests
from disabled passengers and notify the user that their request
for support has been received
- Accessible Journey Pocket Assistant: a journey planner giving
passengers bespoke guidance for every step of their trip
- Nodality (navigating transport interchange): a website that
provides disabled passengers, and carers with all the information
they need to understand how accessible a specific station is
- Signly: an app that improves communication and passenger
experience for people who use sign language
- Aubin: an app designed to improve rail journeys for people
with autism by using stress related preferences, rather than time
or cost, to help the user reach their destination
The innovation competition was run by RSSB, the Rail Safety
and Standards Board, as part of the Department for Transport’s
work to improve accessibility for all passengers, across all
modes of transport. The government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy
will be published later this year.
The aim of the competition was to find creative solutions to
challenges faced by passengers with disabilities on the railways,
and especially for those with less visible impairments.
Mark Applin, Co-founder of Signly, said:
The Signly team are delighted the RSSB have seen
the possibilities to improve passenger experience for Deaf
passengers who use British Sign Language.
The grant funding affords the opportunity to meet Deaf
passengers and rail employees and develop simple tools that can
make a difference day in, day out.
Mark Phillips, Chief Executive of RSSB, said:
I am delighted that the Rail Accessibility Competition run
by RSSB has inspired
these exciting, innovative projects.
These ideas will help achieve our aim of improving overall
access to the railways for disabled people and contribute to a
better, safer railway. We thank everybody who submitted
proposals to the competition and look forward to supporting the
winning projects.
Matt Garner from Ethos Farms (Nodality) said:
We are delighted to have won this prestigious competition and
look forward to delivering an innovative and transformational
product that will assist disabled customers in their end to end
rail journey.
The competition launched in September 2017 as part
of DfT’s work
to accelerate innovation across the rail industry.
