Google is trying to improve the wheelchair-accessibility information in Google Maps, following a 125,000-signature-strong petition calling on it to do so.
On Wednesday, Google Maps software engineer Sasha
Blair-Goldensohn—who was himself paralyzed by a falling tree branch eight
years ago—wrote in a blog post that the mapping app
does show wheelchair-accessible routes thanks to information submitted by
volunteers, but "not everyone knows this tool exists, so we want to do
more."
Blair-Goldensohn said Google wants the volunteers who contribute
to Google Maps, known as Local Guides, to add more information for those with
impaired mobility.
The volunteers can do this by going to the section of the app
that asks the user questions about the place where they're currently
located—the Android version of Google Maps even suggests nearby places that
have insufficient information—and answer the questions about wheelchair access.
"If each of our tens of millions of Local Guides answers
three of these questions every day for two weeks, we can gather nearly two
billion answers to help people who rely on this information every day,"
Blair-Goldensohn wrote.
"You'll also be making life easier for families with
strollers, seniors with walkers, or anyone making plans with a friend who has
impaired mobility," he added.
A London woman named Belinda Bradley started an online petition last month
calling on Google to make such a move. She was inspired by her own experience
trying to negotiate the British capital with friends and family who have
disabilities.
"We found that all routes provided by Google Maps demanded
stairs, bumpy paths, small hills, foot bridges, crossings without slopes and
many times there was no room on the pavement for the chair," she wrote.
"It should be easy for everyone to get around, no matter who you
are!"
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