Contents

• Using the app
• About the app
• Developing the app

Using the app

Available now the Paralympic Heritage Trail App is free to install on iOS and Android devices, either search for “Paralympic Heritage Trail App” or press on the links below.

Apple App Store

Google Play App Store

Soft Launch

We are currently in a ‘soft-launch’ period for the app. This means the app is available to members of the public, but that changes and tweaks are still being made. We would love to get any feedback or thoughts from anyone who installs the app.

Feedback form

FAQ section 

We are also using feedback to populate our FAQ section, if you would like to contribute a question to this, please get in touch at [email protected] 

About the app

The Paralympic Heritage Trail App is a new digital experience created by the National Paralympic Heritage Trust. The app features two self-guided tours, which visitors can use to explore Aylesbury and Stoke Mandeville, and learn about the history of the Paralympic Movement. 

The first self-guided tour, the Paralympic Heritage Trail, leads you through the history of the Paralympic Movement around Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Stadium, the birthplace of the Games. Beginning at Elm Farm Court, you will be guided to key buildings and places around the site, highlighting the local and international history of the Paralympic Games. You will experience this history through a mix of written, audio and visual content created and curated especially for the app - including the oral histories excerpts of Paralympians who competed at the Games here, and 3D models of objects from our collection.

  

On the left is the main page of the app after launch. The select at the bottom of the screen allows you to select different routes. To look at a stop, tap the corresponding numbered map marker.

On the right is the introductory page, once you tap on a numbered stop you will see this page, highlighting the area of interest, and some brief information about its significance. Swipe right to learn more!

Each stop contains a range of information. This includes written information, images, audio clips, videos, and 3D scans created as part of the NPHT’s Digital Explorations project.

The second self-guided route, The Stoke Mandeville Way, is an accessibility route created by Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS) for the 2012 London Paralympic Games. The Stoke Mandeville Way provides a route between Aylesbury train station to Stoke Mandeville train station, assisting those using wheelchairs or other mobility devices travel to Stoke Mandeville Stadium and Hospital.

We created this app as a new, exciting way to engage with Paralympic history. Using our app, visitors can enhance their knowledge, experience parts of our collections, and learn more about the work of the National Paralympic Heritage Trust. The app also features a number of digital learning resources for Key Stage 1 to 3 students and virtual tours of both our heritage displays at Stoke Mandeville Stadium and the National Spinal Cord Injuries Centre.    

Travel information  

If you would like to experience the Paralympic Heritage Trail in person, we recommend downloading the app on your phone in advance of travelling to Stoke Mandeville Stadium. There are a number of amenities along the trails, which are identified in the app.

Visit this page to plan your visit.

Accessibility information

The app has been designed involving disabled users representing a wide range of disabilities with several testing stages. However, we welcome feedback, with the view to making further changes and aiming to make this fully inclusive - see more information below.

The app features an adjustable text size, a contrast option, and a dark mode. These can be easily accessed on the setting menu from the main map page. The app is also designed to work with screen readers, for visually impaired and blind users. Finally, we have intended the app to be fully functional from anywhere in the world, so the app’s content is accessible to all.

Developing the app

The app was developed by Experience Heritage, a York based company, who bring history to life through innovative digital storytelling. This app marries their experience developing other walking tour applications and digital expertise with our collections and knowledge about the Paralympics.

Oral history content for the app was recorded and transcribed by Rosemary Hall and NPHT volunteers. The written and visual content of the app was curated by PhD student Sam Brady, as part of his placement with the NPHT.

Sam Brady is a PhD student at the University of Glasgow and the National Paralympic Heritage Trust. He is researching the Social, Political and Technological History of Sport Wheelchairs. Sam moved to Aylesbury in 2021, in order to work more closely with the NPHT. This heritage trail app was the result of a placement Sam undertook between November 2021 and May 2022, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Resources

We have a number of resources made by project lead Sam Brady, if you would like to learn more about the creation of the Paralympic Heritage Trail app.

Sam's talk at the Buckinghamshire History Festival in November 2022

Articles about the app and curating content for the stops:

• Disability History Association, Showcasing athlete’s experiences through a Paralympic history tour app.
• April 2023 volume of ALISS’ (Association of Librarians and Information Professionals in the Social Sciences) quarterly publication.

Funders

Thanks are given to Section 106 and the HS2 Community and Environment Fund for providing funding for this project.