While many buildings, apartments and other public destinations have become more accessible for people with disabilities, the reality is that many of these locations are still difficult to navigate for many.
This became abundantly clear when Matt McCann visited a hotel designed with accessibility in mind in 2012. As someone with cerebral palsy who uses a rolling walker to get around, Matt quickly found out that the hotel was not truly accessible.
This experience inspired him to create Access.Earth, which is a user-generated platform that allows users to add and search for data about accessibility in hotels, businesses and restaurants across the world.
According to this recent Mashable article, users can very easily plan out their trips by checking if the stores, hotels and restaurants that they will be visiting have ramps, wide-enough doors for wheelchairs and accessible bathrooms.
To get a sense of how Access.Earth is becoming the TripAdvisor for people with disabilities, please check out this video interview with Matt. In addition, Access.Earth has also been profiled by The Huffington Post.
Access.Earth was part of the original .Earth top level domain Founder Program, which as designed to give passionate organizations and individuals an opportunity to secure .Earth domains before they officially launch to the public in November 2015.
The organization serves as an ideal case study for how to use the .Earth domain extension in ways that support overall branding and mission, and we applaud the momentum that Access.Earth has gained lately.
If you own an organization that is also making the world a better place, we recommend securing your own .Earth domain. Please click here to secure your domain now.