It’s usual to see car brands talking about mobility and how they work hard for a better future, but for real, most part of this is only speech. It’s rare to see a concrete act that can bring real change.

Ford believe that talk doesn’t get things done. Building does. The Accessibility Mat came to turn Ford beliefs into a tangible piece capable of changing people’s lives. It’s a new way to think mobility. A new way to move even when the driver is outside the car.

More than a piece of design, it is a powerful technology innovation.

In Brazil, there are 46 million people with some type of disability. 7% of them have a motor disability. Despite a wheelchair user being capable of driving an adapted car, when they go to the streets, they must face the overwhelming lack of accessibility, even in the main cities.

For a long time Fords brand strategy has been based on the idea of promoting mobility and helping people moving freely. The Accessibility Mat came to transform these beliefs into a tangible piece. A piece that can help people move freely, even when they are outside of a Ford car.

They can move more and explore more of the city they live in. A message that “Go Further” is not only a slogan, but a brand commitment.

It is a car mat redesigned to work as a portable accessibility tool for disabled drivers. A piece of design, made of a very light and resistant material, created from a part that already exists inside the car, the trunk mat. The driver just needs to get the mat in the trunk, fold it, put in the back of their wheelchair and use it whenever they need to.

The Mat also has sensors and a microprocessor that sends Bluetooth signals to the wheelchair user’s mobile phone and an app with a map point the exactly place it was used. That way we create a precious data-bank that can be shared with local authorities in order to help building accessible cities.

Ford Ecosport was chosen for this project because it is the best-selling Ford vehicle for disabled drivers.

The idea was to launch the new prototype on different channels in order to promote a huge conversation about the subject and collect as much opinions and feedback as we could.

The live events were important to allow our target audience, disabled people, to get in contact and test the Mat. They could do this at live events like the 30th São Paulo International Auto Show and the Campus Party.

Online we could increase the conversation with the target audience, speaking with disabled drivers, accessibility enthusiastic, technology lovers and car fans.

During the process of execution, all prototypes created passed through different kinds of tests to approve its capability. Wheelchair users have participated since the beginning of the project, testing and giving insight. Billy and Michele were the most important partners.

The Accessibility Mat was launched on 23 October 2018, at a Ford event exclusive to media and partners. At the same time, we launched an online film on Fords social media pages on YouTube and Facebook.

After this we promoted the Mat at live events like the 30th Sao Paulo International Auto Show and the Brazilian Campus Party.

A film was produced to present the project to the public and it was promoted on Ford’s website, Facebook and YouTube page. More than 50 million people were impacted and the campaign had more than 17 million earned media.

It started a precious conversation online, so we could collect a huge amount of data with different opinions, ideas and feedback about the prototype.

It also promoted a debate about accessibility and equality of opportunities in the media, even Brazil’s president himself, Michel Temer, paid a visit to Ford’s stand at the 30th Sao Paulo International Auto Show to understand more the Accessibility Mat.