Toowoomba disability advocate Josh Marshall is developing an app to help disabled residents better navigate our community.

Mr Marshall, 38, helped many people transition into wheelchairs during his almost 20 years as a registered nurse. However, he was still not prepared for life in a wheelchair when his youth diagnoses of MS finally caught up with him seven years ago.

“It wasn’t until I was in a wheelchair that I realised how inaccessible our world is,” Mr Marshall said.

“Over the past seven years I have seen and experienced first-hand the challenges and barriers for disabled people in our community,” he said.

“I’m trying to break down those barriers with Inclusion Access.”

The MyAccess app will provide a catalogue of venues that allows people with disability to make informed choices about businesses and services.

Users can search for venues in the categories of Eat (restaurants, cafes, bars), Play (cinemas, museums, parks) or Stay (hotels, motels, B&Bs) and filter using their disability requirements such as:

• Mobility: accessible toilet, counter height, table service, step-free entry;
• Cognitive: easy read text, low sensory environment, inclusive attitudes; and
• Sensory: screen reader technology, hearing loop/augmentation, luminance contrast.

 Member for Toowoomba South David Janetzki MP congratulated Mr Marshall for his efforts to provide the one-in-five people living with disability with a means of confidently venturing outside the safety of their home.

“This app will promote inclusivity and be a valuable resource for people living with a disability,” Mr Janetzki said.

“It will help empower people with disability to actively participate in our community,” he said.

Mr Marshall said he witnessed first-hand how attitudes towards him changed as his MS worsened and he progressed from walking unaided, then with a cane, then crutches, then a wheelchair.

“Accessibility is so much more than ramps and rails, it’s attitudes as well,” Mr Marshall said.

“People started to talk around me, asking others ‘what does he want’ and I’d say, ‘he can talk too’.

“There are many restaurants and cafes where I can’t sit with my family and friends because my wheelchair doesn’t fit underneath the table.

“When I attend a venue and I’m not included, I feel like I’m not relevant in the community. I feel like I shouldn’t be there, and I feel like I should just stay home. It’s not a good feeling.”

Mr Marshall said many disabled people had more money thanks to NDIS but chose to stay home where they felt safe.

“No-one wants to go out to eat and be worrying about ‘will I be able to use the toilet, will I make a mess of myself?’”

Mr Marshall started his disability access consultancy business Inclusion Access Consultancy in 2018.

Inclusion Access recently received their deductible gift recipient (DGR) status to receive tax deductible donations. Mr Marshall and the board of directors are currently raising funds for the app’s development.

Accessible businesses can visit the website and sign up for free. Donations can also be made via their website.

The Inclusion Access website can be accessed at www.inclusionaccess.com.au where some of the MyAccess app features are currently available.

The app will be launched in the Toowoomba area as a pilot and then expanded into regional areas, across the state and then nationally.