UK: Govia Thameslink Railway now offers free use of a smartphone app designed to enhance accessibility for blind and partially sighted passengers at all 236 of its managed stations.
The Aira Explorer app allows users to place a video call with a trained adviser who looks through the customer’s smartphone camera to guide them around the station on speakerphone, simplifying the journey.
It was initially offered at 12 stations as part of a trial involving volunteers from Sight Loss Councils and the Thomas Pocklington Trust charity which funds them.
‘Having Aira Explorer available could be enough to give someone the confidence to take the train knowing that they can arrive at a station and use Aira to support them through the station and to a member of staff’, said Dave Smith, Sight Loss Council Engagement Manager for Thomas Pocklington Trust. ‘Furthermore, the app can be used to navigate someone to a coffee shop, the toilet or out to the bus stop for an onward journey thus making the whole experience more equal to sighted passengers.’
