A Pilot Deployment of an Online Tool for Large-Scale Virtual Auditing of Urban Accessibility

Abstract

We present Project Sidewalk, a new online tool that allows anyone-from motivated citizens to government workers-to remotely label accessibility problems by virtually walking through city streets. Basic game design principles such as interactive onboarding, mission-based tasks, and stats dashboards are used to train, engage, and sustain users. We describe the current Project Sidewalk system, present results of a pilot public deployment with 581 users, and discuss open questions and future work.