Google Maps New Update For People With Disabilities: App Now Features Wheelchair Accessible Locations & More Useful Sections!

Google is on the way to becoming the perfect search engine and in an attempt to reach its goal, is trying to accumulate everything within itself. In its latest initiative, the tech giant has rolled out a new update for its Google Maps which will prove to be of great help for people with disabilities.

The new update for Google Maps now features the wheelchair accessible locations in a particular area. Although the feature is currently available only in the U.S., the tech giant will soon roll out the update for rest of the globe. Here's what we know about the latest update so far:

Google Maps: How To Use The Wheelchair Accessible Feature?

The New Google Map Can Now Tell You If a Location is Wheelchair Accessible https://t.co/2hudg3XMk9 pic.twitter.com/njE58cY6uZ

— Jay Henry (@wealthy_brains) December 17, 2016

While there are other apps in the market, including WheelMap, it's still very difficult to find out which place has wheelchair accessibility. The new Google Maps update now lets the user find out about a building's accessibility. All the user needs to do is search for the destination on Google maps, click on the description panel and check under amenities.

If a building is wheelchair accessible, it is shown under the amenities tab. Not only is this new update helpful for people with disabilities, it can also be very useful for people traveling with their elderly or newly born babies in strollers. Unfortunately, this feature is still under development and is currently available in several parts of the globe including the US.

Google Maps: Development of the Wheelchair Accessible Feature

If you've been a constant user of Google maps, then you must have given your reviews on various instants. Google has been using the same reviews to gather information on various locations. Quite recently, while asking for reviews, several questions about the building being wheelchair accessible were also being asked and Google has probably used those reviews to build up the new feature.

Google also has an initiative called the '20% Project', in which the Google employees have to work on a separate side project for 20 percent of their time. Rio Akasaka, the Product Manager of Google Drive, is one such employee who has worked on the development of the wheelchair accessibility feature. Although Google Maps earlier had information related to opening/closing times, reviews etc of countless locations, the new wheelchair accessibility feature has made it much more useful to cater to the needs of people with disabilities.

Google has been working on the information about location accessibility they receive from the 'Local Guides', to improve the features. It's also quite possible that Google Maps will display more information regarding these locations soon. Stay tuned to SWR for more news and updates on the Google Maps update.