London Pilot: Contributor Guide
Everything you need is on this page. Ten minutes to read, about ten minutes per location after that.
What you're helping to build
SARScore measures how easy or difficult real places are to reach and enter, not according to paperwork or policy, but according to what people actually find at the kerb, the gate, the door and the lift. Every score is calculated from structured facts observed by someone who was really there. You are one of the first people putting real evidence into the system, and the pilot exists to test one thing above all: that the score a location gets is stable, fair and honest.
What you need
A smartphone with a camera and location services, and five to ten minutes at each location. Start at sarscore.com and create an account first (Sign in, top right). Anonymous reports are accepted but never count towards a route's confidence, so signed-in visits are worth far more to the pilot.
Choosing locations
The pilot area is London, but anywhere you naturally go is useful. Report places you would visit anyway: your own home, a friend's or relative's home (with their okay), your GP, a shop, a library, a café. Never make a special trip onto private property to report it. If you wouldn't be there normally, don't report it. Aim for variety if you can: a house, a flat in a block, somewhere with a lift, somewhere with steps.
How to report a visit
1. On the site, search the address. If the location isn't mapped yet, choose it from the national address search and press Map this location; you will land on the report form.
2. Report during the visit or immediately after, while it's fresh. The form may open with the location type already filled in from the national address register. Correct it if it is wrong. You may also see a note about mapped entrances or building size; that is unverified context, and what you find is what counts.
3. Answer only what you personally observed. “Not observed” is a good answer, not a failure. An honest gap is worth more to us than a guess. If a section doesn't apply to your route, it will say so.
4. If you can, start the built-in timer when you leave your vehicle or the street, and stop it at the destination; real journey times calibrate the scoring bands.
5. Anything unusual that day (a lift out of service, works blocking the pavement, a broken gate) should be recorded as a temporary condition. It affects the score temporarily without rewriting the location's permanent record.
Making your visit a verified visit
A photo taken live during the report is what turns your report into verified evidence: the kind that lets a score publish. Three things make it count: take the photo during the report session (use the camera from the form, a photo picked from your gallery will not verify), allow location access when your browser asks (this binds the evidence to the place), and photograph the entrance or the route: the door, the steps, the ramp, the approach.
Photo rules, no exceptions: no people, no faces, no vehicle number plates, no interiors of private homes. Photos are stored privately and reviewed by a moderator; they are never published.
If the score doesn't appear straight away
That's the system working, not failing. SARScore refuses to publish a score until the evidence clears a strict gate: enough facts, at least one verified visit, and no unresolved conflicts. A new location will often show “awaiting verified evidence” or “score not yet available” after your first report. You may also occasionally see a note that community mapping disagrees with something you reported. Your report stands; the note just invites a second look next time you pass.
What we're testing (so you know what feedback helps)
Whether two people reporting the same route get consistent scores; whether the form is quick and clear on a phone, standing on a pavement; whether verification feels reasonable or annoying; and whether the published score matches your instinct about the place. Anything that surprised, confused or slowed you down, tell us: pilot@sarscore.com. Direct feedback is the most useful kind.
The small print
Taking part means agreeing to the Terms of Use. The short version: report honestly and first-hand, only from places you're lawfully in, photograph places not people, and don't try to game the score. A suggested contribution is three to five locations over the pilot, but every single verified visit genuinely moves the project.