Google Maps has many features that help you in your everyday life. But there are over 130 million people in the world who don’t have it as easy as we do. They are limited by a disability and depend on accessibility. This is exactly what Google Maps now shows in the Android and iOS app.
Google Maps shows accessibility
For most people in the world, it’s quite easy to get around, go to a restaurant or movie theater and have unrestricted access. Millions of people can’t do that because they are in wheelchairs. They rely on special parking, entrances, and other adaptations to go about their lives as normally as possible. Google launched accessible places back in 2020 in select countries such as the U.S., Japan, Australia, and the UK. Now the feature is being rolled out around the world, including in Germany. From now on, you can display “Accessible Places” in Google Maps in the settings.
If you have activated this option, information on accessibility gathered from over 120 million local guides around the world will be displayed in the description of locations and other places. This allows you to see directly on your phone whether there is an appropriate entrance, parking space, toilet or seating option. Based on this information, you can then decide whether or not to visit the location. This is especially helpful if you don’t know your way around a place. If there is no accessibility, Google Maps also shows this directly. This could be an incentive to change something.
New function for Google Maps now online
The new feature for Google Maps is now available around the world and can be activated by you in the app on your Android or iOS device. I was already able to turn it on and try it out.
