Accessibility looks like different things to different people. When architects design buildings there are parameters that must be met in order to meet standard building codes. With the passing of the Americans with Disability Act, building regulations were placed to ensure that the design process included these "check off items". However, how can individuals with varying disabilities know where spaces are "fit" for them.

Accessibility mapping has become a method which helps identify areas that provide access to individuals with disabilities. Groups all over the world from Nashville to Paris take part in "map-a-thons" that allow people to come together in a collective effort to understand where access is available in their city. Whether they themselves are disabled, know of people who are, or concerned citizens who want to become more aware of their surrounds for others accessibility mapping allows for the tracking and documentation of these locations on apps.

Companies like Google have jumped into the accessibility mapping game. In 2017, Google Maps added a feature that allowed for individuals to provide information of wheelchair access for businesses in 6 select major cities. Apps like AXS Map and AccessNow are some of the few programs that allow for collection of data to study accessibility in various areas. 

Like guerrilla urbanism, accessibility mapping is often a collective, political endeavor: a way of staking a claim for better access to public spaces as a group effort. That may sound obvious, but the enforcement of laws such as the Americans With Disabilities Act is often conducted to resolve individual grievances, not to create infrastructure for all.

Technology is involved in the daily lives of most individuals, however what happens when "most individuals" do not include those with disabilities? Wheelchair access is only one of the many design features that can lead to the development of more accessible cities. 

Although the intentions of such mapping is often good, sometimes a binary form of use and access are often recorded. Non-mobility disabilities like sight, hearing, or chemical sensitivity for example are other factors that may inhibit accessibility. Mapping these areas of access is not a singular effort but an ongoing one. The key to providing better forms of accessibility can not only be created through app based data collection, but through the understanding of inclusive design. Technology can provide a means to creating a more navigable environment, however that does not help change the physical features of an environment altogether. 

News via The Atlantic.