Wheelmap

The Wheelmap iPhone App is the mobile app for Wheelmap.org, an open, free and online map of the world for wheelchair-accessible places, provided by the nonprofit organisation Sozialhelden e.V.

With the app, you can find, mark and add accessible and less accessible public places on a virtual map with your iPhone oder iPad. You can also upload images and add specific information about places.

With the information provided, mobility-impaired people can easily find out which underground stations, restaurants, cafés or clubs around them are accessible and which are not. This makes it easier for people in wheelchairs to get around and to participate in society, while at the same time creating more public awareness for their needs and rights. Everyone can get involved and help by marking the wheelchair accessibility of public places.

In a first step, you can mark the general wheelchair accessibility of a place according to a simple traffic light system:

Green = fully wheelchair accessible
The entrance is stepless AND all rooms are accessible without steps.

Yellow = partially wheelchair accessible
The entrance is stepless, but not all rooms inside are accessible without steps. OR: The entrance has a small step (up to max. 7 cm height / 3 inches) and the most important rooms inside are accessible without steps. OR: The entrance has one or two steps, but there is a mobile ramp for bridging those steps and the most important rooms are accessible without steps.

Red = not wheelchair accessible
The entrance has a high step (over 7 cm) or several steps.

The second tagging option applies to the wheelchair accessibility of the WC of a place, which – if available – you can mark in the following way:

Green = toilet is wheelchair accessible

Doorway’s inner width is at least 90 cm (35 in)
Clear turning space is at least 150 cm × 150 cm (59 x 59 in)
Wheelchair-height toilet seat
Foldable grab rails (or something similar)
Wheelchair accessible sink

Red = toilet is not wheelchair accessible

Locations and toilets that still need to be tagged are marked in grey and can be quickly and easily marked by anyone with a few clicks. No registration or login is required.

In the new version of the app, you can add new locations by entering the address and the exact location directly on OpenStreetMap. The same applies when updating the address or other basic information about a place.

Wheelmap is based on OpenStreetMap and works similar to Wikipedia - everyone can contribute to improving the collected information.


Wheelmap was developed by the non-profit organisation Sozialhelden e.V. It is Sozialhelden's aim to address social issues with innovative approaches.