New app puts the Gold Coast accessibility at your fingertips

The Access GC app, developed by Griffith University’s School of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), features a variety of locations around the Gold Coast – such as restaurants, hotels, parking, ramps, toilets, and even wheelchair repair locations – and includes an easy to use location filter and map as well as common audible phrases that can be used by people with speech impairments.

Dr Jolon Faichney, from Griffith’s App Factory, lead the project and its development team made up of ICT students since work started in September 2017, and says the app is designed to make life easier for people with a range of disabilities.

“The Access GC app is easy for people to use and it’s literally a tool that is at their fingertips,” Dr Faichney says.

“There are over a thousand key sites that people with disabilities can access to make life easier to get to where they are going.”

Community organisation FSG assisted in putting the app together by providing key listing data, with FSG Advocate Adam Sheppard commending the finished product.

“There has been no way for people with disabilities to easily access information about getting around on the Gold Coast, until now,” he says.

“Access GC allows people to enjoy greater freedom and confidence simply by searching for a restaurant or hotel that is accessible for them and how they can get there.”

Griffith University Vice Chancellor and President Professor Ian O’Connor has also acknowledged the success of the app developed within his institute.

“This app is a fantastic tool that will enable people with disabilities to better access key locations and services,” he says.

“We are thrilled that Griffith University’s ICT School is responsible for creating this resource so that everyone can enjoy the same level of inclusiveness.”

The app, commissioned and funded by Griffith University, is now available for download on iPhone and Android devices.