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What does Dubai's latest Accessibility App do?

Myron Pincomb, CEO and board chairman of IBCCES, on how one programme can make travel for people of determination easier

Published: Sun 3 Nov 2024, 6:06 PM

By
Karishma Nandkeolyar

Dubai is leading the charge to make the country one of the most accessible in the world. And it is perhaps for this reason that the Accessibility App, released in October at the AccessAbilities Expo in Dubai, fits right in. Based on a similar app in North America that helps people of determination (POD) navigate life by pointing out friendly spots, routes and accommodations, the Accessibility App makes travel (and daily living) simpler.

The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) and Department of Economy and Tourism partnered up for this project, and it has taken about two years of work for it to come to fruition, explains Myron Pincomb, CEO and board chairman of IBCCES.

Myron Pincomb

In an interview with Khaleej Times, Pincomb explains what the app does, where it’s available and how businesses can sign up for the programme.

What does the Accessibility App do?

It provides a variety of tools for POD to help them to better navigate life. We’re working with about 860 hotels that are going through the programme. There are 60 attractions including the airport, the beaches, Dubai, municipalities. Everybody that’s tourist facing will be trained and certified to accommodate guests with autism and other sensory needs. What the app does is it helps communicate to the POD community what's available.

Such as…

So on the app, you have on the home screen a directory with 10 different buttons. When you’re in Dubai and you pull up the app, you’re going to see all the places that have been trained and certified. There are close to 200 on there. So let’s just say you pick the Burj Khalifa, you’ll be able to click on the bridge, you’ll be able to go down and see all the normal information; their hours of operation, all those different things. But then you're also going to be able to see all the different accommodations [and facilities] that they offer for people of determination. So whether it’s a Braille menu or a wheelchair ramp or sensory guides for autism, whatever it happens to be, you’ll be able to see it.

What are some of the specialised features of the app?

Well, there’s an autism and sensory button that allows you to really narrow in on the companies that just have autism training.

There’s a button that shows you all the locations that have a closed loop hearing system. So the closed loop hearing system is something that connects to your hearing aid or your cochlear implant and when you walk into the room, it allows people to communicate.

Translation, obviously, language is a big barrier, so we translate over 133 languages.

On the mobility side, if you’re in a wheelchair, you can map out your path based on the type of wheelchair you have or the type of mobility device.

What about those with vision impairment?

We have a tool for people with low vision. So if you clicked on a button, a live human would come on and say, ‘How can I help you today?’ And you would point your camera, and you’d say, ‘Help me read the menu, or help me find a gate at the airport’. And it would.

Any other features we should know about?

Yes. Typically, the POD community is either unemployed or underemployed. What we do is we allow all of our partners to list jobs on there that are targeted towards them. I think we’re close to 1,500 jobs in Dubai that are listed there, and that number grows every day.

The app was launched in Dubai, but is that a gateway to other areas in the region?

Yes. The app will expand through the GCC. We’re working with several other cities, and then as far as within Dubai, there's a new thing added to it every day. Like, in the healthcare space, we’re working with a lot of different clinics, and they’re going through the training and certification programme, for each of these areas it takes anywhere from three to six months. What that means is 80 percent of their customer-facing employees have been trained and certified, and they’ve also passed an audit.

How would a business get listed?

If a business wants to get on it, they would contact one of our team and we would set up a training and certification programme for them. There is a cost of the business; it all depends on the size. The training is delivered online, it’s available in multiple languages. It is very specific to that business and the position. So if we’re going to do a hospital, the training for a physician is different than a speech therapist is different for an occupational therapist. Everything's very targeted; it's not a one-size-fits-all training.

Is the app free?

Yes, and it’s available on the Apple Store or the Android store.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com