The goal? Provide housing complexes with the tools they need to become more accessible, making their rentals even more attractive to people with visual disabilities.
By Daniel López
Setting Higher Standards for Accessibility
As the modern real estate market continues to grow and adapt to the needs of people in the 21st century, housing complexes need to ensure that they can provide renters with everything they need to be comfortable and confident signing a lease or mortgage.
Every day, new advancements are made in housing practices, from higher standards of construction to more functional designs; all of which contribute to a consumer’s willingness to part with their hard earned money. But beyond these obvious considerations are other equally necessary housing practices that are often overlooked. Namely: accessibility.
Once considered an optional element of design, accessibility is now the standard in housing. But how many complexes have actually implemented the accessibility solutions necessary to offer safe and reliable housing to people with low vision or reduced mobility?
Real Estate Accessibility
Let’s take a moment to consider the experience of a person with low vision. When they move through open or closed spaces, they have to create a mental map of the space to better identify places that they’ll be using frequently.
In a housing complex, these could include any of the myriad of amenities available to tenants, from washing rooms to pool areas to exercise facilities to parking lots; all of which people with low vision need to go about their daily lives.
Lazarillo offers digital tools to help facilitate this process, such as virtual maps of facilities that users can utilize to safely and accessibly navigate between locations. Users receive information from Lazarillo direct to their mobile devices including dictated audio guidance, which they can use to orient themselves more safely and accurately.
Becoming accessible through the Lazarillo app is an additional qualification and assurance that management companies can offer to potential tenants, giving people with disabilities who might wish to buy or lease a property more confidence in choosing their complex. Management companies can include these qualifications in their property listings, generating greater interest for the growing number of people who demand that accessibility be a prerequisite of any potential housing option.
With Lazarillo, tenants can be confident in the accessibility of your complex, from their first visit to the complex to their tour to their final decision on signing a lease. Offering accessibility solutions to renters and guests with disabilities adds tremendous value, demonstrating a seal of accessibility that aligns with the most inclusive housing practices of today.
These technologies can revolutionize housing for people in the disabled community, and Lazarillo’s team of developers can help you implement them easily every step of the way. We’ll work with your management company at a very reasonable price point to ensure that you can utilize our services without a problem. We even offer constant digital support to ensure that you are able to implement our services as smoothly as possible.
More Accessible Options
Today, physical spaces aren’t the only spaces that need to be made more accessible to tenants. A lot of communication between apartment managers and tenants happens digitally, from postings about changes to facilities to community rules and guidelines to maintenance updates. Unfortunately, this information is often difficult for tenants with disabilities to access.
Luckily, Lazarillo offers a News service that users can access easily at any time through the Lazarillo app. Management can send accessible updates straight to users smartphones, from changes in community guidelines to updates about new facilities or closures.
Everywhere you look, the world is catching up to the rapidly changing standards of accessibility in housing, ensuring that safe and accessible housing is available to everyone. Don’t just be an observer. It’s time to create a new vision for your management company, joining the global push for a more accessible world.
We invite you to get to know Lazarillo by visiting our website. Learn more about the plans we offer to connect your business with our large and growing user base – currently present in over 50 countries and available in multiple languages.
Together, we can offer an incredible hand of support to people with low vision as they decide where they are going to live. Join us in the inclusion revolution today!
