Uber wants to make personal transport easy for the blind

Uber is partnering with the National Council for the Blind Malaysia (NCBM) to make personal transport more accessible to the blind in Malaysia.

According to Uber, their new partnership with the NCBM includes working closely with the council to provide free rides to their members. Additionally, Uber says that they will organise special training sessions for driver-partners so that they are better equipped with the knowledge to handle blind riders.

Further, Uber has also highlighted the methods in which the application has integrated to be more friendly to the blind. This includes integration with smartphone accessibility options like VoiceOver iOS, TalkBack on Android and some braille display compatibility with the application. According to the ride-sharing service, other blind-friendly features include the cashless payment options included in the app, real-time GPS, access for all and location sharing.

However, these aren’t exactly new additions to the application. As far as we can tell, the Uber app remains the same as it has always been. The only crucial changes that Uber says they will make is through the training and “free rides”. But, as we all know, free rides in the ride-sharing service usually comes with a cap.

There is also no mention on whether the drivers picking up these blind passengers will be informed of their disability or be cautioned to take precautionary measures to better accommodate their riders.

What do you guys think of this move by Uber? Let me know in the comments below.