Searcys x Sociability Blog

We’re proud to share that Searcys has teamed up with the Sociability app to make our brasseries and bars more accessible for everyone.

Thanks to this partnership, all Searcys guests can now access detailed and reliable information about the accessibility of eight of our venues—right from their phones. The Sociability team has worked closely with our staff to develop Accessibility Management Systems, tailored to each venue. They’ve also provided personalised suggestions to help us continue improving accessibility for all our guests.

Sociability is a free app that features accessibility information for over 11,000 hospitality and retail venues in London, and even more across the UK. With more than 13,500 users and growing, it’s empowering disabled people with a wide range of access requirements, including mobility, visual, hearing and sensory —find spaces that meet their needs. The app is also a valuable resource for their friends, families, and supporters.

Matt Pierri, Sociability CEO, shares: “A lack of readily available accessibility information leaves disabled people routinely excluded from places, services, platforms, and opportunities – at significant social and economic cost. Sociability – both an app and web platform – allows users to easily search and filter for preferred facilities, empowering disabled people and their allies to find venues that work for them. At Sociability, we believe that there is no such thing as perfect accessibility. Disability is nuanced, and what works for one person might not work for another. Rather than auditing venues and providing a score, we focus on providing comprehensive information about the physical and sensory aspects of the space, so that our users can decide for themselves whether or not a venue will work for them. “ With more than 1.2 million disabled people living in London, Sociability was founded in 2020 to help its users find accessible places. Sociability was born directly from the lived experience of its founder, Matt Pierri, who is a manual wheelchair user. Matt was living in Australia and was offered a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University. Despite weeks of searching for accessibility information about the place he would be living and studying for the next few years, he was unable to find the information he needed. It was at this point that Matt realised that things needed to change. While at Oxford, Matt started the Oxford Accessibility Project – which eventually evolved into Sociability – to help others facing similar uncertainties navigate the world with dignity and confidence.

Sociability has a dedicated team of trained data collectors, called mappers, who gather detailed accessibility information from venues across the UK. The mappers focus on areas public areas of venues, such as entrances, indoor and outdoor seating areas, and bathrooms. They look at both physical features (like doorway widths and seating types) and sensory details (like lighting and noise levels).

To help users get a full picture, mappers take clear, walk-through-style photos, tag them for easy searching, and write descriptive alt-text so visually impaired users can navigate the app with ease. Users can then search and filter for their specific access requirements, giving them ownership of the decision-making process, and most importantly, peace of mind to go out and explore with confidence.

Currently, 8 Searcys venues have been audited and are included on the Sociability app: o The Barbican Bar and Grill o The Champagne Bar at Battersea Power Station o The Cafe at the National Army Museum o Searcys at the Gherkin o St Pancras Bar and Brasserie o The Portrait Restaurant at the National Portrait Gallery o Searcys Bar and Brasserie at Surveyors House o The Pump Room

At Searcys, we believe in creating welcoming, inclusive spaces for everyone. This is one more step towards making this vision a reality.