Studio 24’s app for CBM UK is a hit for those with disabilities in danger zones

The Cambridge-based charity CBM UK, whose mission is improving the lives of disabled people, has thanked Studio 24 for its input ahead of International Humanitarian Day on August 19.

Allia Guildhall-based design and technology experts Studio 24 first started working with CBM UK in 2017.

The brief was to develop a disaster response mobile app to help people with disabilities access life-saving relief services during emergencies. The result was the Humanitarian Hands on Tool (HHOT).

“When we first started – after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 – there was a real recognition that the humanitarian sector needed to get its act together,” says Kirsty Smith, chief executive of CBM UK. “You’d get one village with three agencies involved, and the next village had none. So today there is much better regulation and organisation, but we still found that the vast majority of large aid agencies such as the UN weren’t helping people with disabilities.

“So for instance if a village floods and a siren has been set up to sound the alarm, people who are deaf aren’t touched by that, if you’re a wheelchair user you’ll struggle to get to a safe space, and people may not let you in, or the flooding comes and people can’t get out of their homes anyway.”

For Studio 24, the project – which saw the agency make it to the finals of the 2023 Cambridge Independent Science & Technology Awards in the ‘Tech for Good’ category – was something a bit different.

“We probably do no more than three sizeable projects at any one time and some smaller ones,” says Kate Jones, marketing manager at Studio 24. “The other big project at the time was HS2, we do their corporate website, plus a learning legacy website, and operate their job brokerage system – it’s a recruitment platform.”

Kirsty adds: “CBM UK is trying to create a standard in emergency situations – say for shelter, water pumps – and some people in those situations are disabled.

“Emergencies, disasters and conflict can increase the number of people with disabilities, both long and short-term, due to injuries sustained, trauma and lack of effective services/support.

“The stress and trauma experienced during and after humanitarian emergencies can cause distress and in some people lead to mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and even psychosis. Additionally, humanitarian emergencies often further exacerbate pre-existing mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities.”

The app was initially launched in English in 2018, with subsequent versions in Spanish, Bahasa Indonesian, French and Bengali – “for Rohingya refugees, that situation was a massive humanitarian crisis,” says Kate, adding: “The most recent addition was Ukrainian, in October 2022. We’re currently working on an Arabic version for release later this year.”

The project remains ongoing.

“There was a lot of content to start with and that has built up over time,” Kate notes. “CBM asks for feedback: one change recently was with mental health support for humanitarian relief so that was new as well, so it’s new information for people in these new situations.”

One of the new challenges for those with disabilities, of course, was the pandemic.

“Covid brought challenges for people who didn’t read, or if they couldn’t hear warnings: they were sometimes at risk of being shot,” Kate says.

“Often the situation is vast crowds queuing for water or food, or food which comes in 50kg bags. If you’re an older woman with one leg you’ve no chance of getting it home safely.

“This tool is a ‘how’ – if I want to build a toilet for a wheelchair user, you type in ‘toilet’ and it shows how the ramp works, how to get in, it’s very simple to build and it’s in lots of different languages. The idea is for it to be used in as grass roots a way as possible, so type in ‘sanitation’, or ‘light’, and it eases you through the descriptions.”

The app is free to download.

“We’re a capacity builder for other people,” says Kirsty, who heads a team of 45 (of which 34 are full time or “full time equivalents”) from CBM UK’s base on Mercers Row, off Newmarket Road.

“If you’re in an earthquake, all support is taken away and the app becomes an integral part of the way people live in crisis. There’s no outside services, no helpline to call.”

Details of World Humanitarian Day 2023 here.