Media Release: New app launches to help the disabled community gain easier access in public
A Hamilton disability advocate is launching a new app to give the community information at their fingertips for how to safely travel around Hamilton.
Smart Access has now launched on the Google Play Store. The application has been a passion project for 2020 Attitude Community Champion Tim Young, who was inspired by his experience as a tetraplegic, to build a tool to improve accessibility in public infrastructure after facing many obstacles in his travels.
“Currently, there is no way for disabled people to find out if a place is accessible for them before they arrive onsite and are confronted with the fact there are stairs in the way, or there is no tactile paving present, or that there is a steep kerb ramp or hill to scale” says Mr Young.
“With the number of people over 65 growing from 12% of our population to 23% by 2046, and with 59% of those over 65 having a disability, there will be large economic costs if we fail to include everyone in society, and Smart Access aims to help address this.”
Smart Access collects data on 35 different infrastructure features people are likely to encounter while travelling around a city. These include street furniture, traditional accessibility features for wheelchair users, tactile paving, obstacles for those with low-vision, shelter at bus stops and more.
Users can choose to see only the accessibility features that affect their travel, so they can effectively plan the best travel route that meets their specific needs. This information also allows Council staff to prioritise infrastructure upgrades with extensive data on all accessibility features.
“After running for Hamilton City Council a couple of years ago I noticed the gap in data collection and knowledge that was held by local governments on accessibility features present in public, and on the travel patterns of people with different abilities,” says Mr Young.
“The lack of data is the most important systemic cause of the continued inequality of opportunity among the disabled community.”
In September 2020, Smart Access won a $20,000 TSB Good Stuff grant from the Bank to bring the development of the application to life.
“I’d spent close to a year working on determining which infrastructure features to collect data and the best way of displaying the data by consulting with members of the disabled community. Smart Access has now started partnering with organisations to gather information, including Wintec who have hired Smart Access to conduct a campus-wide accessibility audit.”
“We have also partnered with the Smart Cities Council Australia New Zealand to showcase this important and innovative work to a number of local governments around Australasia” says Mr Young.
“It meant a lot to me to get this grant from TSB which provided the funding needed to take the data and build the app which brings the dream to life. Just six months later I’m so proud to be launching Smart Access to support the Hamilton disabled community by providing a solution to significant barriers we all face.”
“The app is launching with more than 10,000 accessibility features identified across Hamilton and we’ll continue to work with partners to grow this, so I’d love to hear from more organisations keen to help make more of this valuable and worthwhile information easily available to the public.
“Now that Smart Access is operating in Hamilton, we’ll begin rolling out to other New Zealand cities to create a wider positive impact for the disabled community.
“I’m so excited about the opportunity Smart Access presents for people like myself who face many challenges in trying to live our day to day lives due to a lack of accessibility.”
ENDS
For more information contact:
Tim Young
0273384597/tim@smartaccess.enterprises