Sensory C.A.V.E.

The challenge

The Sensory C.A.V.E. is a new type of mobile sensory room for use in day-to-day environments which could be stressful and over-stimulating for people who are neurodivergent.

Once installed in places like shopping malls and entertainment venues, the C.A.V.E. is completely autonomous. It needs no management by the venue itself, other than cleaning. Members of the public get inside by entering a unique 4-digit code into a door keypad.

The Sensory C.A.V.E team needed a stand-alone website to auto-generate unique codes for users and manage access and communications with them.

We were tasked with building an accessible website with a user-friendly booking system which was responsive across desktop and mobile. It also needed to be simple for staff to update, add new rooms and manage availability and access for multiple simultaneous locations.

The solution

The Sensory C.A.V.E team already had branding and design assets which were inviting, warm and positive based on colour psychology. They wanted the website design to reflect this carefully-crafted non-clinical and accessible style. We introduced them to our WCAG 2.1 accessibility tool. This tool optimises readability through careful analysis of fonts and background colours.

To keep bookings management and code generation simple, we used the WordPress plug-in called Simply Schedules Appointments. This allows staff to add and tailor appointment availability according to venue opening times. Customers simply choose their location and select an available date and time from the calendar. They can then get their unique pin code and booking details by email and SMS.

To share access codes with users we created a custom integration between the appointments plug-in and lock service through its API. It also allows the Sensory C.A.V.E  team to regulate the lock system behind the scenes.

In the CMS, a customisable booking FAQs section within the page and content layout makes it easy to add site-specific customer information.

Once complete, full testing was carried out in a real shopping centre environment to ensure everything worked as intended.

Although the C.A.V.E is currently free for users, we made it possible to add an optional donation/payment if required.

The results

The client is delighted with the website and the C.A.V.E has been successfully hired and booked at multiple venues. The booking system has proved simple and user-friendly for users.

The Sensory C.A.V.E team finds the website management intuitive and easy to use.

They now use our accessibility tool in other aspects of their design work.