In an announcement yesterday, Lyft shared its plans to add accessibility features to their app for the visually impaired. They will be doing this in partnership with Aira, a community that assists people with disabilities.
“Visually impaired riders can now use Lyft with Aira’s assistance, leveraging wearable smart glasses and an augmented reality dashboard to receive essential ride information… This partnership with Aira is just another way Lyft is working to drive better, safer, and more seamless experiences for our diverse ride-sharing community.”
Earlier in 2017, Lyft also announced a partnership with the National Association of the Deaf to improve ride access for deaf and people who are hard of hearing so that they are able to connect to their drivers and passengers more easily. “We look forward to continuing to work with these communities and organizations to improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation.”
Customers can now call their Lyft rides and get important information about the ride upon request, including the location of designated pick-up spots, estimated time of pick-up, and the estimated fare. They can also ask for the driver’s name and vehicle information to identify the ride, then track the ride, ensure the drop off location, and receive navigational information.
Improvements and developments still need to happen and are happening, giving hope to countless people who are part of the company’s user-base.
Wearables have a tremendous scope in improving accessibility to people with disabilities. Be it CuteCircuit’s Sound Shirt that allows deaf people to “feel “music, to the new braille smartwatch from Dot, the industry is giving due importance to the needs of disabled people. Healthcare has also been revolutionized by wearables, IOT and technology in general.
First time customers can avail a discount by using promo code ‘AIRA’ on their app.
