Shared micromobility operator Voi is integrating its service within the Lazarillo app to make UK streets safer and more accessible for the blind and visually-impaired.
This means blind and partially sighted pedestrians can receive real-time audio messages on scooter parking locations and report any poorly parked scooter to Voi using its ‘Alerts’ feature in the app.
The service is currently live in Bristol, Liverpool and Birmingham, with more cities soon to be added.
Lazarillo’s app guides over a quarter of a million vulnerable people worldwide through busy and often cluttered streets, and has thousands of users in the UK too.
Companies use Lazarillo’s open-source mapping tech to link their information in an accessible format, which the app relays as real-time voice messages so that people with disabilities can navigate through indoor and outdoor spaces.
With more than two million people suffering from sight loss in the UK, this integration can make it easier for them to safely and confidently go about their daily lives.
René Espinoza Jimenez, Founder and CEO of Lazarillo, said: “Our integration with Voi intends to provide new information to our users as well as a new accessible tool for reporting. We hope the integration will allow people with disabilities to feel more empowered as we work toward smarter and more accessible cities together.”
Jack Samler, General Manager at Voi UK and Ireland, added: “We look forward to getting feedback from Lazarillo’s blind and visually-impaired people in Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool, and to continuing to work with Lazarillo to roll out this service in other towns and cities.”
