What is Snowball?
Snowball Community, also known as Snowball, stands out as a revolutionary accessibility app, holding the title of the world’s largest and most widely used disability application. This innovative platform invites individuals with disabilities to evaluate services and businesses based on their level of disability-friendliness.
Users of the app can easily locate accessible venues, such as restaurants, tourist attractions, supermarkets, or coffee shops, by selecting their location anywhere in the world. They can also contribute by adding places not yet featured on the Snowball app, leaving reviews, and have already added tens of thousands of locations, including Changing Places and accessible toilets. The app’s standout feature is its integration with Google Maps, ensuring seamless navigation to chosen destinations. Snowball remains unparalleled in the market.
Both disabled travelers and locals can enrich the app’s content by sharing venues that offer a welcoming and accessible environment for individuals with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, and sensory issues. The app’s growth is fueled by the collective input of its users, akin to a snowball effect.
Snowball is the brainchild of Simon Sansome, a wheelchair user and founder. He envisions Snowball making a significant impact by facilitating successful journeys and enjoyable experiences for people with physical disabilities, mental health issues, and learning disabilities.
Recent incidents, such as BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner being stranded on a plane at Heathrow and a Guide Dog charity executive asked to leave a supermarket due to his guide dog, highlight the real-world challenges Snowball aims to address. The app instils confidence, allowing users to easily socialize, access information on nearby facilities, and plan outings with freedom and confidence.
Simon, 42, a former council worker and rugby player from Leicester, became paralyzed from the waist down in 2014 following a sudden injury. After a year of recovery, he took his wife to their favourite local restaurant, only to realize there was no wheelchair access. This experience prompted him to set up the Snowball Community Facebook page, which quickly gained 100,000 followers and is now the most-read disability page globally. The positive feedback inspired him to create Snowball.
Team GB Paralympic gold medallists Hannah Cockcroft OBE and Aaron Phipps MBE have embraced Snowball as Brand Ambassadors.
The Snowball app is already impacting local businesses, providing valuable data on the accessibility of towns and villages. Some businesses are utilizing Snowball to advertise holiday accommodations. Users are leveraging the app to find accessible parking spaces, dining establishments, and overall enhancing the quality of life for every user, making them feel welcome and included.