Links

We have established links from our site almost everywhere that an internet address/URL is mentioned or listed in the text. Our own site interlinks the URLs www.accessinlondon.org, www.accessinparis.org and www.accessinisrael.org- which are all under the Access Project (PHSP) umbrella.

This page was last updated in May 2007.

You can go directly to:

What we are listing and describing on these pages is information sites relating to various aspects of disability, and of travel and tourism. The travel and tourism sites are mainly of value in providing conventional data about special events, opening times and prices etc. Unless they provide good descriptions about accessibility, be careful when using any access information.

Some sites simply include ‘travellers tales’ which can be both interesting and revealing, but do not provide consistent and balanced data. Some sites reflect the perception of the provider, not the user. Some get their information by phoning. Some put information there because they are completing various ‘tick boxes’ which they are required to do.

In recent years, there has been an explosion in the amount of material held on the world wide web. There are differences in the way information is stored and included, and much of the access data is scattered and takes the form of notes on message boards. A great deal of ‘access’ data on the net is inaccurate and/or misleading. This is because people’s understanding of accessibility is very limited, and the information is incomplete. Too often, they just think of a wheelchair user, and quite often of an able and energetic chair user in a manual chair. Also, as we discovered, websites sometimes just disappear.

About five years ago we came across the Integrated Disability Information and Education site INDIE, and listed it in the Israel/PA guide because it was quite good. When we checked it recently, the website www.indie.ca led directly to the Parkdale Hookers, who, we think, play indie music ! This wasn’t quite what we were expecting, and the INDIE site and its information seem to have disappeared.

Some providers just say ‘disabled access’, without really giving any hard data.What that probably means that at least one on-site route is step free, but doesn’t tell you much else. It doesn’t say whether there’s a disabled person’s toilet there, nor what percentage of the building you can reach without steps, nor how big it is. The information may also be wrong!

What we would like to encourage is that rather than just linking uncritically to sites (which generally improves the site’s Google rating), people should first assess the source and quality of any data they see. A brief description of the physical characteristics of a building or venue and its main facilities gives far more information than a possibly uninformed and/or generalised assessment of accessibility. Similar considerations apply to the description of services provided.

  • Several key disability organisations are listed here, but for more extensive descriptions, see Useful organisations and contact points under the London heading. We list the standard tourist information sites separately, as most of these have little access information.

    Key disability information relating to London can be found on the following sites.

    • Age Concern

      www.ace.org.uk
      Age Concern is the focal point for all voluntary groups concerned with information and services for older people. Extensive information and advice service.

    • Artsline

      www.artsline.co.uk
      Artsline provide an up-to-date on-line and telephone information service about all aspects of access to arts and entertainment activities. They have a great deal of experience and knowledge of what is possible and practicable, and an extensive and well researched database about access to theatres, cinemas, music venues, galleries and museums.

    • Centre for Accessible Environments

      www.cae.org.uk
      The CAE aims to improve access to buildings and the environment generally, working with and through architects and others.

    • Disabled Information from the Disabled

      www.disabledinfo.co.uk
      A site with a wide range of useful information, albeit slightly scattered around. Much of it relates to facilities and organisations in the UK, but there’s also some extensive information on Travelling.

    • Disabled Living Foundation

      www.dlf.org.uk
      The DLF works to help disabled people in aspects of ordinary life which present difficulty. Their website is useful, and they have an excellent list of factsheets.

    • Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee

      www.dptac.gov.uk
      DPTAC was set up as an independent body to advise government on the transport needs of disabled people throughout the UK. Mainly policy orientated.

    • Holiday Care

      www.holidaycare.org.uk
      The UK’s central source of travel and holiday information for disabled or disadvantaged people.

    • Parking information (Blue Badge space details)

      www.parkingforbluebadges.com
      This is a site set up by the Association of London government with maps that show the location of BB spaces. As there is a great shortage of such spaces in central London, this information may be particularly useful. It does not, however, address the very real problem of the shortage of such spaces – which reflects the general difficulties of parking in London. See also www.bluebadgenetwork.org which has an excellent summary entitled “How do I get a blue parking permit ?”. The network also has information about the operation of the badge system outside London and on a Europe-wide basis.

    • Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation

      www.radar.org.uk
      RADAR is the central campaigning body, working with all the voluntary groups concerned with disabled people.

    • SHAPE (London)

      www.shapearts.org.uk
      SHAPE is a major provider for disabled people of training in the arts and is an enabler of access in the widest sense. In addition it runs the Shape Ticket Scheme to enable disabled and elderly people to enjoy a wide range of arts events.

    • Shopmobility

      www.justmobility.co.uk/shop
      Shopmobility provides invaluable services and resources in a number of outer London shopping centres (and in many other parts of the country). The Shopmobility website is excellent, and includes a wealth of information about all the schemes, including when they are open, how many parking places there are, and what they offer in the way of help.

    • Transport for London (TfL)

      www.tfl.gov.uk
      Only limited parts of the underground are accessible, see the map and description in this book, or the excellent Tube access guide a map/guide published by TfL. On the underground, access is restricted as even at accessible stations there is normally a step up or down into the train. An increasing number of low floor and wheelchair accessible buses are coming into use. There is detailed information in the chapter in Access in London on Travelling and getting around.

    • Wheelchair Travel

      www.wheelchair-travel.co.uk
      Probably the best (and almost the only) source of converted vehicles for hire.

    • Tourism and events information

    • British Tourist Authority

      www.visitbritain.com
      The BTA provides a wide range of information and services of a general nature about travelling in and through Britain. Only limited information for disabled visitors is available.

    • London Tourist Board

      www.visitlondon.com
      The LTB and borough tourist office desks are the main source of conventional tourist information in London. The website is extensive. They can tell you whether places will be open and give information about costs and concessions.

    • London Town

      www.londontown.com

      The London Tourism Guide

      www.londontourist.org

      This is London from the Evening Standard

      www.thisislondon.com
      These sites are all comprehensive guides to events and places. The information has the limitation that when discounts are offered on hotel accommodation it is not possible to identify the adapted rooms for disabled guests. Similarly, the general contact numbers given for booking agencies for theatres and other entertainments will almost certainly not be able to deal with booking the spaces available for disabled persons. Many of the restaurants listed will not have a disabled person’s toilet. London Town describes itself as a web-based guide with ‘all the information you need to plan your visit’. It includes a wide range of information sorted in alphabetical order, but with very little about access.

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  • These links are both to the key disability sites relevant to Paris, and to sources of tourist information. Other sites mentioned or listed on the site are linked directly from the text. This page was updated in June 2005.

    Disability sites include:

      • Association des Paralysées de France

        www.apf.asso.fr includes the contact information for their branches/delegations in every Département in France.
        The Paris delegation has its own office at 13 place de Rungis 75013 Paris.
        Tel: 01 53 80 92 94 Fax: 01 53 80 92 98 e-mail: pf-paris@wanadoo.fr

      • Disabled Information from the Disabled

        www.disabledinfo.co.uk
        A site with a wide range of useful information, albeit slightly scattered around. Much of it relates to facilities and organisations in the UK, but there’s also some extensive information on Travelling.

    Mobile En Ville

    www.mobile-en-ville.asso.fr who promote mobility and with whom we had extensive contact when doing the research for the guide.

    • Two key sites for tourism information are:

    • Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau

      www.parisinfo.com and www.pidf.com which is the official tourist website for visitors to the Ile-de-France region.
      They both use a ‘labelling’ system called “Tourisme and Handicap” – which is very well intentioned, but involves making judgements FOR people based on a quite complex set of criteria. We much prefer the approach of providing accurate information and letting people decide for themselves about the practicality of a visit. Its objective is also to sensitise those working in the tourism industry and providing services, and is intended to raise standards.

    • We are working with the tourism authorities in the Ile-de-France region to improve the information provided and in particular to get the principle of providing a basic description of accessibility accepted both at ‘accessible’ places and at others where there may be problems.
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  • The links are to the key sites relevant to football grounds, and the page was updated in June 2005.

    • Association of Wheelchair & Ambulant Disabled Supporters

      aims to be a Union of all disabled supporters, and works to ensure that all sporting grounds have fully trained staff who will understand their needs. It supports those who are working to encourage clubs to provide suitable facilities for disabled supporters and arranges meetings between different supporters groups, so that experiences can be shared. It encourages complete integration between able bodied and disabled supporters. AWADS has an extensive website with information about practically every ground in the UK atwww.awads.co.uk, and additional comment is added frequently, reflecting people’s experiences when going to matches.

    • National Association of Disabled Supporters

      aims to represent disabled fans in discussions on improving assess to facilities for disabled supporters. In 1998 the Football task Force published a report which recommended that there should be consultation with fans on plans for new stadium developments, and that the 92 football grounds should be monitored on an annual basis to assess progress with making necessary improvements. NADS has a well presented website www.nads.org.uk which includes an informative and provocative Gazetta.

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  • These links are both to the key disability sites relevant to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and to sources of tourist and other information.

    There are many sites which provide information about the Middle East situation, and promote informed discussion about the issues. In one sense, access issues are independent of national politics – however, in this area, freedom of movement is curtailed, which IS an access issue.

    • Peacewatch

      We have tried to provide a balanced list which includes organisations with different agendas and viewpoints. For a group promoting a resolution of conflict, we would simply direct people to a Mid-east dialogue group called PeaceWatch which can be found on the PEACE page ofwww.mideastweb.org

    • Nations Online

      A site which has descriptions of both Israel and Palestine iswww.nationsonline.org and both accounts lead to all the official government sites as well as a very wide range of other information. Countries are listed in alphabetical order.

    • Israeli websites we have come across include:

    • Guide to the Israel Internet

      www.iGuide.co.il
      Sponsored by the leading service provider in Israel, netvision. It includes a classified directory of sites and a complete listing of all domain names in the Israeli internet.

    • Interactive Israel

      www.inisrael.com
      Includes information about travel agents, hotels and about the major towns and cities but, as with others, little access information.

    • Israel Tourism and Recreation

      www.goisrael.com
      The official Ministry of Tourism site which includes long listings of travel agents, car rental companies and up-to-the-minute news.

    • Maven, the Jewish Portal

      www.maven.co.il
      Includes a range of subjects, including travel and tourism, entertainment, and Judaism. It has pages on Jewish festivals

    • Virtual Jerusalem

      www.virtualjerusalem.com
      News-based, and includes a great deal of information of interest to the Jewish community and a page entitled ‘Ask the Rabbi’

    • Hebron

      www.hebron.org.il
      Represents the views of Jewish settlers in Kiryat Arba (Hebron’s suburb), and has links to other Jewish sites

    • Nature & National Parks Protection Authority

      www.parks.org
      Covers the nature reserves and antional parks in Israel. At some of them, efforts have been made to improve access, and to provide facilities for disabled visitors.

    • B’Tselem

      www.btselem.org
      Provides up-to-date information on the human rights situation in the area from an active Israeli organisation B’Tselem.

    • Palestinian websites we have encountered include:
      (note that Palestinian sites have recently started to use the ending .ps – just like we use .uk in Britain, and .fr means France etc. This can mean that some sites may have changed their URL since we last looked, and if it doesn’t work, we suggest that you might just check the URL on Google)

    • Palestine Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (Passia)

      www.passia.org
      Passia maintains an independent status and this site gives you details of their publications including a directory of Palestinian organisations and contacts.

    • Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre

      www.jmcc.org
      Started by a group of Palestinian journalists and researchers to provide information on events in Palestinian areas.

    • Palestinian National Authority

      www.pna.gov.ps
      Direct links to various Ministries, media and major educational establishments.

    • The Alternative Tourism Group (ATG)

      www.atg.ps
      Actively promote study tours and tourism in Palestine which can give both groups and individuals a unique insight into the Holy Land.

    • Birzeit University

      www.birzeit.edu
      Ramallah based university with opportunities for international students.

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    • Access-Able Travel Source

      www.access-able.com
      PO Box 1796, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, USA, has been providing a valuable resource with a wide range information for some ten years. It is a big job to maintain the data base, and some of it inevitably becomes dated – as happens elsewhere on the web. There is, however, lots of good stuff.

    • Accessible Europe Tourism4All

      www.accessibleurope.com
      The site for a pool of nearly twenty European travel agents who have experience of organising visits for people with special needs. This includes wheelchair users, slow walkers, elderly people and family groups. The organisation has been around for more than ten years, and was started by Massimo, under the name of Promotur, Plazza Pitagora 9, 10137 Turin, Italy, Tel: +39 (0)113018888. As it has a number of specialised European travel agent members, a wide range of tours and visits are offered. These include visits to both Paris and London (of particular interest to users of our guidebooks), to Prague, Vienna or Rome – and also much further afield to South Africa, Turkey or even to Thailand. There’s a whole range of possible destinations mentioned on their website.
      While we have no direct experience of using their services, the opportunities offered by Accessible Europe would seem to be extremely interesting for some, and using such an agency would take away many of the hassles involved in organising everything yourself. Their e-mail is info@accessibleurope.com

    • Disability Guide

      www.disabilityguide.org
      Useful links to accessible travel sites around the world. Their e-mail isinfo@disabilityguide.com

    • Disability Online

      www.disabilityonline.com
      Useful information directory, originating in the US. They cover a wide range of subjects, including pages on City Guides, Travel and Tourism. Their e-mail iskb@bigsky.net

    • Disability Resources

      www.disabilityresources.org
      Non-profit organisation established to promote and improve awareness, availability and accessibility of information that can help people with disabilities to live independently. It is a huge US-based resource with a directory set out in alphabetical order, and some twenty of so subjects under every letter! It includes a section on Travel and Travel Guides. Their e-mail isinfo@disabilityresources.org

    • Egypt for All

      www.egyptforall.com
      Offers visits to the key sights in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor as well as Nile cruises and resort holidays.

    • Global Access Disability Travel Network

      www.globalaccessnews.com
      Extensive and well established site. Global Access offers a free travel e-zine which circulates new information and travellers tales every month. Their e-mail contact is clearpath@cox.net

    • MossRehab Resource Net

      www.mossresourcenet.org
      Information only site at the MossRehab Hospital, 1200 West Tabor Road, Philadelphia, PA 19141-3099, USA. It has a good list of travel tips, travel publications and of links, and has been providing help and advice for disabled travellers for a very long time. The pages include some Disability Fact Sheets and some on General Resources. There are major sections on Accessible Travel including an excellent page with links to Travel Resources, and another listing Travel Publications.

    • Wheelchair Accessible Europe (WAE)

      www.waeurope.com
      WAE is a not-profit project to help find the most suitable hotels for wheelchair users. They have a good, but limited, listing of hotels with wheel-in showers in a number of big European cities. Contact at info@waeurope.com

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    • Disabled Holiday Information

      www.disabledholidayinfo.org.uk
      This site includes information on a range of places in both England and Wales (although not about London). It provides descriptions of the accessibility of places of interest, and about accessible accommodation.

    • Focus on Disability

      www.focusondisability.org.uk
      A large site described as being the gateway to services in the UK, and including an extensive and useful listing of links to a wide range of organisations relevant to disabled people.

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