App helps disabled air passengers receive personalized support

With an aim to allow disabled passengers to have their independence, a new app allows users to specify their needs before arriving at the airport.

We have already seen how innovation can help those with disabilities, from the website Clickability which allows users to rate disability services, to the app London Accessible which guides disabled people through the Tube. Edinburgh-based company Neatebox has developed a solution to empower disabled people in their daily life. With this new application, coined the Welcome app, users are able to tailor their travel needs accordingly.

Neatebox is a company seeking to lead society to become a more inclusive and welcoming place. The Welcome app means that those with special requirements can communicate their needs to staff ahead of time. For example, by explaining their needs before arriving at Edinburgh airport, staff are able to provide tailored support to disabled passengers, while also helping airport staff to offer a more respectful and personalised customer service. This means that disabled people are saved the anxiety of arriving at the airport and seeking out support. It also gives individual businesses and areas of the airport the chance to offer tailored care to those in need.

The application is available for download for the individual user, while venues can sign up to a SaaS license model. Gavin Neate, the founder of Neatebox said “it is this totally inclusive approach to the provision of a service which allows me to visualise a time in the future where equality is neither given nor taken but is set as a default within our society.”

It is amazing to see what technology can do to facilitate communication where it is most needed. How else might innovative ideas be able to influence society and change people’s attitudes? To what extent could the lives of those with disabilities be improved with other similar inventions?