Track 1: Accessibility

What is the problem your solution addresses?

In recent years, development in infrastructure has allowed easier access to a large variety of places to the public. However, a small population of people still struggle to utilize some outdated spaces due to mobility issues. Accessible travel has been an especially important issue that continues to need expansion because we want to strive to make our society as inclusive as possible.

Those who are physically impaired often state issues such as, “I realized how inaccessible (some buildings are) when I got my foot injured. There are some buildings at BU that don't even have an elevator.”

Given how common this problem is, we wanted to design an app that helps make travel more accessible for all. Our project, Via, plans to use landmarks to map the accessibility of routes and public buildings for those facing mobility challenges to help them navigate their surrounding environments with ease.

Why did you pick this solution, and how does that answer the problem?

Via has one main feature. It provides the accessible routes to destinations that the users desire. The lack of accessibility in the city was something often mentioned in our interviews, due to several factors such as construction or the neglect of infrastructure.

Via provides a much simpler way of navigating in the city for those with impairments by providing several different routes. Our app builds a community to inform locals about up-to-date information about current road conditions, building conditions, accessible transit, and a platform to consider options before deciding whether or not to visit a place.