On the Yelp app, you might be looking up restaurants, fitness centers, and businesses in your neighborhood. The app just rolled out new accessibility features that allow you to search far beyond a spot for dinner.
During the month of July, which is Disability Pride Month, Yelp unveiled new searchable accessibility topics. Things like "braille menus," "wheelchair accessible," "ADA compliant restrooms," "ASL proficient," and a whole host of other accessibility needs can be directly searched and are also now listed in a business's "info" section.
Matt O'Nesti of Youngstown said this is a step in the right direction, "I'm always getting around in the community, and one of the things that's always hard is, there isn't really that database that lets you know what's accessible and what's not accessible," said O'Nesti.
The aspiring stand-up comedian uses a power chair for mobility. He is active with friends, serves on the Board for Disability Rights Ohio, and travels for shows.
"Traveling is difficult," said O'Nesti. He continued, "Accessibility doesn't always mean accessibility. I think this is going to be a really interesting tool that the community will be able to use to differentiate when they ask a restaurant, 'Hey, is this accessible? And they go yeah', without really checking."
Yelp said from 2020 to 2023, there was a 40% rise in the search "wheelchair accessible." When you look up a business on the app, click on "info," then scroll down to the "accessibility" section for the amenities.
"I'm also hoping that these search features that they're talking about apply to the Yelp reviews. That it's an easy way to find Yelp reviews that focus on accessibility issue because then you might get the real deal, right? There's what the business puts up, but then the experience of people that actually go there," said Kerstin Sjoberg, President and CEO of Disability Rights Ohio.
Yelp is also rolling out AI-powered text descriptions and enhanced color options for folks who are visually impaired.
The company said in a statement:
“To help people discover and connect with great local businesses it’s important that they can determine if those businesses will accommodate their needs, especially when it comes to accessibility. With these new accessibility attributes, we’re excited to help businesses more clearly indicate their inclusive practices to make it even easier for people to find the right business for them. And for people who use screen readers we hope some of our recent platform updates will make the experience of finding that great local business even more seamless. Making Yelp and the world more accessible makes daily life easier for everyone and we look forward to continuing our work to create a more accessible and inclusive world for everyone," said Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh, SVP of Product
"Now we can go and do things without having this fear of what happens if they have to use a restroom, or what happens if we go to this restaurant and there's 100 steps to get in the door," said O'Nesti.
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