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Residents and advocates will gather in Toronto on Saturday to help map how accessible public spaces in the city are as part of an annual event.
MapMission Day is part of a nationwide-effort to populate an app that provides information on the accessibility of public spaces to people with disabilities, according to Maayan Ziv, a disability activist and founder of the AccessNow app.
Participants will explore their neighbourhoods and rate the accessibility of local spots by logging things like accessible ramps, doors, entryways, elevators, lighting and washrooms. They will indicate whether a space is accessible or not, she said.
“Map missions are basically like accessibility scavenger hunts where we invite people to join us in a real time in a real place,” Ziv said Friday.
“Days like MapMission Day are a way for us to generate the data that can help people make informed decisions about where are the barriers and how can we work to actually remove them.”
The app displays ratings of locations through pins, with a green pin meaning accessible, a yellow pin meaning partially accessible and a red pin meaning not accessible.
‘Map missions are basically like accessibility scavenger hunts where we invite people to join us in a real time in a real place,’ says Maayan Ziv, founder of Access Now. (CBC)
AccessNow says on its website: “Every rating adds to the map, so people can find out how accessible a place is before they go. Together, we’re making our neighbourhoods more accessible and inclusive.”
Mapping event raises awareness, activist says
Ziv said the app was a response to her own frustration as a wheelchair user who navigates the streets of Toronto and loves to travel.
“Wherever I go, I’m looking for information about the accessibility of those spaces and often I’m coming up short. I’m not getting the answers that I need … And so I really just wanted a way to know in advance if the places that I wanted to go to are accessible for me,” Ziv said.
Ziv said the event is also an chance to raise awareness about the importance of accessibility.
“We always encourage business owners to think about ways that they can make their businesses more accessible right now,” Ziv said. That can mean putting accessibility information on a business’s website, creating an entry on the app, or simply “making sure that the pathways within your space are accessible and free of clutter.”
Ziv said accessibility cannot be an afterthought.
“Accessibility has to be top of mind because not only do over 27 per cent of Canadians experience a disability, but any person can join our community at any time,” Ziv said.
‘We do need change,’ advocate says
Anthony Frisina, founder of Above and Beyond, a disability advocacy group, said Friday he plans to take part in the MapMission Day in Toronto.
“AccessNow app has really changed the game when it comes to accessibility and inclusion. It allows us to find places and spaces to level up to our accessibility needs,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to meeting everybody and doing our part to make our city, our province and our country more accessible,” he said.
“Provincially, federally and locally, we do need change when it comes to accessibility.”
MapMission Day in Toronto begins at 1 p.m. in St. James Park.