How Accomable has expanded horizons for disabled travellers

Airbnb’s new recruit is a game-changer for accessible travel, says Amelia Heathman
Amelia Heathman31 August 2018

When Srin Madipalli decided to take a career break from being a corporate lawyer in the city and go travelling, there was one issue that cropped up again and again: finding suitable places to stay.

Madipalli has spinal muscular atrophy and uses a wheelchair to get about — so stairs are out and he needs to think about things like grab bars on baths. “Finding accommodation was a pain,” he says. “Where everyone else could do it with a few clicks. Why does one section of society have to have it so hard?”

This planted a seed. On his return, he did an MBA at Oxford, while teaching himself to code. In the summer of 2015 Accomable was born, an Airbnb-type website focused on listing accessible places for people with disabilities. It has now been acquired by Airbnb. Madipalli says this fits with his dream of taking it mainstream.

“Disability is such an under-served market,” he says. “The community have put up with a lot of bad solutions, so if you build something with them in mind, people notice.”

In just two years Accomable grew to offering more than 1,600 accessible properties in 60 different countries, but it was a struggle to keep up with demand. The Airbnb deal gives it more scope to grow.

Madipalli has moved to Airbnb’s head office in Silicon Valley, working with four people from his team who have also relocated.

Under his watch Airbnb has removed the one accessibility filter it had, a tick box for wheelchair accessibility, and incorporated 21 new ones including things such as grab bars in the bathroom, an accessible-height bed, and a mobile hoist.

Madipalli wants to encourage more people with disabilities to become hosts. Airbnb is going to run a campaign to drive this, with a particular focus in London.

It was a major coup to be acquired by one of the world’s most valuable tech companies, but Madipalli also hopes it will serve as a wake-up for other companies to take accessibility seriously. If you want to build a $38 billion company, as Airbnb is rumoured to be worth, you need to make sure that want you are doing works for everyone.

“People don’t recognise a problem for people with disabilities until they encounter it themselves, or through their friends and family,” says Madipalli.

He credits Accomable’s success to the power of coding. “If you do have a disability, especially a condition as severe as mine, there’s a lot you physically cannot do. But coding gives you the power to amplify so much and you can reach so many people.”

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