A new guide designed to help Bradford's disabled residents get and out and about has proved a big success in its first year.
The Bradford pages of the Disabled Go website, which was put together thanks to sponsorship from Bradford Council, were visited by 50,254 people with each user referencing about four pages on average, making a total of 192,361 hits altogether.
DisabledGo-Bradford provides access details for all kinds of venues including shops, pubs, restaurants, cinemas and other public venues across the district.
The guide is useful for people with hearing, vision or mobility related access concerns, but it would also be of use to older people and parents or carers with pushchairs.
By logging on to www.DisabledGo.info people can check, for example, whether a pub is accessible to a wheelchair user, whether a cinema can offer a hearing loop, a hotel offers adapted rooms or a restaurant has a menu in large print or Braille. This can help disabled people decide whether it is worth visiting a venue or not.
The guide is regularly updated with improvements to physical and non-physical access and an additional 30 venues in Bradford have had their details added to the site.
The guide also enables Bradford's business and service providers to contact the huge number of customers who have access concerns.
According to Government figures there are 11 million disabled people in the UK with an annual spending power of £80 billion. This guide will help local businesses to reach new customers among the Bradford district's residents and visitors.
Peter Kay, Head of Services for Adults at Bradford Council's Social Services department, said: "I'm pleased that the website has proved so popular and so helpful to those who have a disability and who want to enjoy life to the full."
Trevor Gott, who is a member of CONTACT and Bradford Access Action, two organisations that represent disabled people's views, said: "As a wheelchair user I make good use of Disabled Go's Access Information in Bradford for activities such as swimming, eating out and shopping.
"It is also useful when travelling to look up information on the laptop about other cities when travelling."
Coun Dale Smith, Executive Member for Adult Services, said: "It is a delight to see this facility so well used and we are thankful that it is making an undoubted difference to the user's quality of life."
Officer/Contact
Sue Haddock
Physical Disability and Sensory Needs Development Officer
Telephone: 01274 435001
Media Relations Officer
Jane Lewis
Telephone: 01274 433526
Fax: 01274 432005
Email: press.communications@bradford.gov.uk
Date: 26.02.08
