Design and Development of a Mobile App for Accessible Beach Tourism Information for People with Disabilities

The global increase in the proportion of the population with disabilities has caused a greater awareness toward guaranteeing their use of public services. In particular, there is emphasis on the accessibility and inclusivity of tourism resources, to improve the enjoyment and well-being for people with motor disabilities. This paper presents a case study on accessibility to beaches in the Region of Murcia, Spain, which is one of the main tourist areas in the country. First, the most important elements that allow for the accessible use of beaches are analyzed and exposed in detail. Then, an extensive field-work in the area of interest has been carried out and its results are evaluated. Finally, the development of a new mobile app is described. The objective of this tool is to provide updated, accurate, and reliable accessibility information regarding the beaches. As a result, more than a third of the beaches analyzed had a high level of accessibility, while almost another third are totally inaccessible. The proposed application is a valuable tool, not only to help people with physical and motor disabilities, but also to raise awareness among local authorities to create and improve accessible services.This work was supported by the Spanish MICINN, as well as European Commission FEDER funds, under grants RTI2018-098156-B-C53 and RTI2018-098309-B-C33. The authors thank Manuel García-Hernández and Salvador Parada-Sarabia for their participation in the collection of data of the study, Khalil Merzouki for the contribution in the software development of the proposed system, and the Federation of Associations of People with Physical and Organic Disability of Murcia (FAMDIF) for the extensive support in carrying out this work