Author: Jane Bringolf

Accessible places with Google Maps

Google Maps has two new features to help us find our way and what we are looking for. Live View uses the camera in your phone to give street view directions, and the “Accessible Places” feature marks entrances with wheelchair access.

Accessible Places feature

Google Maps has expanded its “Accessible Places” feature that shows when a place is wheelchair accessible and/or stair-free. It will be interesting to see if this will encourage more places to make their businesses accessible. As we know, when it’s good for a wheelchair, it’s good for prams, bikes and trolleys.

The feature was originally launched in 2020, but it was limited to just Australia, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. Now, the feature is available worldwide on Android and iOS.

Google Maps pin icon against a background of different coloured dots.

To use this feature, turn on the “Accessible Places” setting in the Google Maps app. You will see a wheelchair icon on the business profile if it has a wheelchair accessible entrance. You will see the same icon with a strikethrough if the location is not accessible. The feature can also check to see if the location offers accessible parking, facilities, and seating.

Steepness of slopes doesn’t appear to be covered, and Google doesn’t say if their access maps are accessible.

It’s up to business owners to update their business profile to reflect whether their business is accessible. It’s unlikely Google will check whether this is true, but user feedback should keep businesses on their toes.

Live View feature

When walking around in new surroundings, Live View helps you keep your bearings. Using the phone camera, the flat map view is transformed into the street view with arrows so you know which way to head. A great plus for tourists and visitors.

When walking around in new surroundings, Live View helps you keep your bearings. Using the phone camera, the flat map view is transformed into the street view with arrows so you know which way to head. A great plus for tourists and visitors.

With Live View, users can walk the streets using the camera on their phone and get directions on the screen. The updated version has more information such as cafes, ATMs and transit stations.

A Gif of Live View in action showing a street view on Google Maps.

Different app developers have tried their hand at creating access maps, but Google brings many features together on the one screen. However, access for wheelchair users does not guarantee access for everyone, and it doesn’t cover all disabilities. It also doesn’t say how welcome people with disability will feel. Nevertheless, it is a good start and Google will continue to improve. The next thing is finding places where you can hear each other talk.

The Google blog page has more up to date information.

Year of Accessible Tourism

With the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in their sights, the Queensland Government has declared 2023 the Year of Accessible Tourism. And it comes with funding. The fund will support small to medium sized tourism and events businesses to enhance their access for people with disability. The fund includes:

  • $10m Accessible Tourism Queensland Fund.
  • $1m Awareness and Capability Program.
  • $1m Visitor Experience Development Initiative.
A man in a wheelchair makes his way along a paved pathway amongst palm trees. The text says, Year of Accessible Tourism.

The Awareness and Capability Program is about raising awareness of the access requirements of visitors, workers and the community. The fund is also about building the capability of the tourism sector to support workers with disability. That includes making sure operators have the skills to employ people with disability.

The aim of the Visitor Experience Development stream is to promote the accessible tourism experience for everyone. This will include capturing images, videos and stories for marketing campaigns.

The Queensland Government wants to change the perception of what it means to be an accessible business. The aim is to support businesses to develop a wider range of accessible tourism itineraries and promote accessible tourism experiences.

While this is a great initiative, the media release makes it sound as if accessible experiences are separate from other “normal” experiences for everyone. The Queensland Government has links to resources for anyone interested in these projects.

Future mobility: user views

TRIPS is a European transport project for making new mobility solutions affordable, accessible and safe for everyone. People with disability took part in a study to see what their attitudes were towards future mobility. Bike sharing, e-scooters and motorbike taxies are largely rejected in their current format.

People with disability are open to using smart technology but it needs to be seamlessly integrated for overall levels of transport accessibility. The full results are reported in the White Paper: Views of persons with disabilities on future mobility.

“In a nutshell, our findings suggest that a number an interactive, real-time, accessible journey planner would motivate users to travel and make their journey more independent, faster, easier, nicer, and safer.”

Front cover of the TRIPS White Paper.

553 people with disability from 21 European countries were surveyed for the project. The majority (54%) of respondents had a physical disability, followed by 16% vision, and 8% hearing. 15% of respondents had multiple disabilities.

9 mobility concepts were presented to respondents including ride pooling, micro-transit, motorbike taxi, robotaxi, e-scooter sharing and bike sharing. In general women were less willing to use new mobility systems, particularly ride pooling, motorbike sharing and robotaxis. At this point it is not known why.

Accessibility is a door to door issue. The White paper offers suggestions that include engaging with people with disability in the design of vehicles, services and infrastructure.

A row of e-scooters stand to attention on the footpath.

Design suggestions

Prioritise a journey planner that provides accessible information about door to door journeys. It would improve willingness to travel. Redesign bikesharing schemes, e-scooters and cycle lanes. Ensure AI solutions are developed with people with disability and accessibility experts to avoid bias in design.

A slide presentation by Alexandra Konig has the short version of the White Paper and short term and long term service recommendations. The title is, The views of persons with disabilities on future mobility.

TRIPS = TRansport Innovation for disabled People needs Satisfaction.

Accessible and inclusive cities

Despite many years of campaigning for disability access across our cities, the results are only piecemeal. But what constitutes an accessible and inclusive city? Australian researchers conducted a global review to find out the enablers and barriers to inclusive design.

“Accessible and inclusive are not common headline city descriptors and even less commonly paired.”

A graphic showing tall buildings and trees set on an architect drawing


One of the issues is that the concept of accessible and inclusive is multifaceted with many terms alluding to the same thing. The terms that matter most and need to be explicit, are accessible and inclusive. However, these terms are made invisible in the literature and guidelines. Terms such as, Healthy, Age-Friendly, Liveable, Inclusive Smart, and Smart Sustainable have implicit links to access and inclusion. And they are usually aspirational statements without tangible strategies outcomes. That means, they can’t be evaluated either.

“Despite its resonant face validity, ‘accessibility’ is a slippery concept even when applied only to the built environment.”

Graphic with orange and red buildings depicting several sizes of home from small house to apartment block.


The researchers include a table of 14 domains of inclusion and access in their paper. Some of these link with the WHO Age Friendly Cities Guide. From these domains they provide a set of key domains that can be used to measure an accessible and inclusive city.

  1. Connectivity (spatial & digital);
  2. Economic participation, employment and education;
  3. Housing;
  4. Community and social infrastructure; and
  5. Processes of engagement and inclusion.

The researchers conclude that the main obstacle is the lack of agreement on access and inclusion factors. Their paper reviewed the global benchmarks of accessible and inclusive cities to provide some exemplars. They also highlighted ways to enhance the experiences of people with disability.

The title of the article is, Global Benchmarking of Accessible and Inclusive Cities.

From the abstract

Globally, many built environments fail to meet the accessibility needs of people with disability. This is despite people with disability agitating for built environment accessibility improvement for many decades. This paper reviews the global literature to determine what constitutes an accessible and inclusive city and to discover global benchmarks of accessible and inclusive cities for people with disability.

We identified five (composite) domains that an accessible and inclusive city would include: 1. Connectivity (spatial & digital); 2. Economic participation, employment and education; 3. Housing; 4. Community and social infrastructure; and 5. Processes of engagement and inclusion.

We also identified accessible and inclusive city exemplars, including Breda, the Netherlands and Gdynia, Poland. From the global review of exemplars and definitions, domains and indicators, areas of practical action were identified that require multi-entity, multisector collaborations with influential partners addressing all prioritised domains.

These actions included: the need to include people with disability in the planning and design of environments and services; work across the linked domains of the built form, services, attitudes, and economic participation; and the need to revise construction, design, planning and architectural education to foreground the needs and requirements of those with disability.

Our Streets: Dangerous by Design

The Dangerous by Design report from Smart Growth America has some interesting statistics about road deaths. This 2022 report differs from previous reports because it captures the behaviours of people during a pandemic. People walked more and drove less, but there were more road deaths. The report examines why.

“Seeing driving go down while deaths went up should call into question the long-held belief that traffic fatalities are inextricably linked to the amount of driving.”

Front cover of Dangerous by Design Report.

Conventional wisdom among policymakers and transportation professionals is that traffic fatalities are inextricably linked to the amount of driving. But the decrease in driving during the pandemic meant less congestion and a significant increase in speeds. Therefore more people were killed. Consequently, speed is the key factor.

Smart Growth America claims that too many transportation agencies and decision makers have been “asleep at the switch”. Their incremental changes to improve safety have not made any positive difference overall.

Those in power, “will have to unwind the deeply embedded, invisible yet powerful emphasis on speed, which is completely incompatible with safety.”

Two ambulance officers push a patient into the ambulance.

The Dangerous by Design 2022 report has several recommendations in terms of policy and design. The guest supplements provide practical experience and add depth to the report. The bottom line of the report is that we have to choose between speed and safety.

Walking and wheeling

The report has a sidebar about “walking” and inclusive language. Of course, some people cannot walk and that is why the term “pedestrian” is used throughout. People using mobility devices are considered pedestrians. However, they are not separated from people using other devices such as skateboards. Consequently, data are difficult to assess in terms of people with disability.

An engineer’s perspective

Charles Marohn writes in a guest supplement that engineers start the process by using the values of their profession. They don’t stop to consider their values might be questioned by others. It’s about standard practice. He says no-one asks questions about speed in proposed road and street designs. Engineers might claim they are not in control of how fast people drive, but Marohn questions this “excuse”. He believes they have a duty to consider it.

Design for children with disability

Children with disability are the subject of Access Insight, the quarterly magazine from the access consultants association. The focus is on different formal and informal learning environments and how to make them more accessible. The magazine leads with an article on St Lucy’s School in Sydney and the final article is on technical specifications.

Architect Caroline Hart writes about St Lucy’s School which has a history of being a school for the blind. The first stage of the new development was a three-storey building with 16 purpose-built classrooms on two floors. A carpark and drop-off area formed the basement. Hart describes the project in detail, covering acoustics, lighting, communication and accessibility elements.

Designing accessible built environments is the minimum. Facilitating active participation and inclusion of children with different needs, strengths, and abilities informs practitioners’ approach to procurement, design, and delivery of spaces and places.

Image: Stanton Dahl Architects

Outside the new school building showing the multicoloured playground of St Lucy's School.

Designing with children with disability is discussed by Mary Ann Jackson and Illanna Ginnis. Creating a design process with children with disability breaks down traditional communication structures. However, this is not without challenges. But how to make these processes inclusive using mainstream architectural thinking and design processes? Jackson and Ginnis explain their methods in their article.

Lynda Wilem tackles the subject of hearing augmentation and inclusion in the classroom. She discusses the established augmentation systems and their benefits and drawbacks. There is new technology on the way using Bluetooth systems which are already available on smart phones that connect to hearing aids. Wilem adds that augmentation systems are only part of the solution for children with low hearing.

And there’s more…

Indoor play centres is the subject of Vanessa Griffin’s article. She tells the story of advocating for an inclusive play centre in her local government area. Designer, Many Lau, raises the subject of diversity and creating supports for children in early learning centres. Allen Kong gives an overview of “Golden Cubes Awards”, a project run by the International Union of Architects. Technical aspects of handrail design for children is covered by Howard Moutrie.

You can view the magazine on issuu, and there is an option to download the 9MB PDF magazine which you might find easier to read.

Autism and built environment

City life can be noisy, busy and confusing at the best of times. People with neurodiverse conditions such as autism can find this level of stimulation distressing in the built environment. People with dementia and mental health conditions can also find city life and streets distressing. The end result is it becomes easier to stay home as much as possible. This is counter to our need to be physically active and to get out and about.

Children with autism can find urban noise and activity distressing. To discover the specific issues, researchers carried out an observational study of children, with their parents, walking from a transport stop to a park. They identified different elements that pose potential issues for the children. From this, they developed potential design solutions.

“It is essential that planners and policymakers change their neurotypically driven mindset of city planning and design.”

Aerial view of Brooke Park in Derry, Ireland. Autism and built environment.

While the noises of transport and street activity can be loud, the park is expected to be a quiet place of retreat. But this is not always the case. Mowers, leaf blowers, and excited children raise the decibel level considerably. So knowing when the park will be quiet is therefore very helpful.

Two routes were the subject of the observational study. Both began at a public bus station and ended at an open green space in the city. The aim was to identify aspects that might inhibit access to the park. The routes included common challenges; footpaths, roads and shopping areas. Both routes were approximately 1 mile (1.6km) in length and covered commonplace streetscapes.

Sensory challenges in the built environment

Not all autistic people have problems with sensory overload and those that do might not react to all senses. Parents need to be aware of the unexpected. Loud noises in the form of drilling machines, heavy trucks and police sirens, and flashing lights, for example. On the day the observations were made, it was sunny and bright – not optimal for those who are light sensitive. One the other hand there are those who find lack of light affects their visual acuity.

Apart from sensory issues, there were several others. Street clutter in the form of bins and sandwich boards on narrow footpaths. Traffic lights were a problem because there was no knowing when the lights would change. The solution is a countdown timer and clearer instructions on when it is safe to cross. Wayfinding guidance is also important because clear instructions are essential for feeling safe.

An uninterrupted, smooth and safe journey is what everyone wants. For autistic people it is essential for feeling safe and comfortable along their journey. The researchers provide detailed design interventions such as transition zones, road safety advice, and quiet spaces.

As with many things, design features essential for this group have benefits for everyone. For example, knowing when the park was going to have the noise of mowers and leaf blowers makes it more pleasant for everyone. And everyone appreciates a quiet space from time to time.

The title of the article is, Autism spectrum condition and the built environment. In the conclusions, the researchers say,

“The issue of accessibility for people with disabilities and autism spectrum condition (ASC) should become common knowledge to those working in the built environment sector. To do so, a design guide for creating inclusive cities and communities for people with disabilities, making specific reference to people with ASC, needs consideration at a strategic level, then implemented at a city and town level. Future regeneration projects should include these interventions and design principles in the planning stages and through to implementation.”

Architecture and autism

Berta Brusilovsky’s eBook, Cognitive accessibility, architecture and the autism spectrum. Keys to design is the last in her series on the topic. The promotional material indicates a basic translation to English, but the book itself is in good English.

Brusilovsky covers the neurobiology in terms of senses, perception, cognition, attention and spatial development. This is followed by design practice using examples in different contexts. Playspaces, classrooms, cinemas, and libraries are discussed in more detail.

Front cover of the book in black and white with high rise buildings as the main graphic.

The book deals with design and architecture: the route of spatial recognition from the perspective of autism. The objective is to create a framework to approach the design of environments and buildings, in order to facilitate spatial development in everyday life.

Participatory architecture

The architecture discipline is standing on a borderline that separates their design knowledge and user requirements. The trend is away from the all-knowing architect as a designer to sharing that knowledge with the users of the design. So, additional skills are required to those of design, that is, participatory engagement with users. A special issue journal takes up the topic of participatory architecture.

Participation can take place in almost any location. Unexpected places sometimes encourage the unpredictable – a good place for new ideas.

Men are gathered around an outdoor fire in natural surroundings. They are participating in a discussion.

The special issue has cases from urban planning, hospital management, cultural heritage, restrooms, age care and social housing. The articles are focused on the way participation is practiced and researched in architecture. The editors extracted four lessons from these papers.

First, participation can take place in unusual and unexpected places, but it welcomes the unpredictable. Second, participatory research is often used where disadvantaged or vulnerable populations are involved. This can lead to useful experimentation for improving environments.

Third, the practice and research enables new knowledge to emerge in the iterative processes transferrable to future projects. Multidisciplinary teams generate verbal and non-verbal knowledge in the process.

Fourth, participation builds communities and networks, and reveals stories and experiences beyond the classroom and text books. There is satisfaction to gain through sharing and co-designing.

So the border between the expert and the non-expert becomes blurred in the participatory process of co-design and co-creation.

The title of the editorial to the special issue is, Participation: A Disciplinary Border for Architectural Research and Practice. The article belongs to the Special Issue Contemporary Issues in Participatory Architecture.

An inviting office environment

Office design is at least one factor that will entice people back to the workplace. Legal practice offices have to consider the comfort and accessibility of both staff and visiting clients. An article in the Law Society Journal has design tips for an accessible and inviting office environment. It is based on a conversation with an interior decorator and an architect.

“There is the unquestionable need to provide a habitat for workers that feels inviting, appealing to work within, accessible and safe.”

A modern office meeting room with good lighting and plants. It looks inviting.

Architect Fiona Dunin says that areas to support staff, not just clients is important because it builds culture within the office. It’s important to focus on acoustic and visual separation, and in open plan offices, distinct meeting places and separation between public and private space is required.

Accessible for all

When it comes to accessibility, the architect and the decorator discuss vision impairment. Consequently they advise contrasting colours and textures to delinate doors, stairways and meeting rooms, kitchens and bathrooms.

For people with hearing impairment, good acoustics to avoid reverberation are a must. Sufficient circulation space, or space that can be quickly adjusted to create more space when need is an obvious requirement. Assistance animals also need to be accommodated particularly as there is a trend for anyone to bring their trusted friend to work.

The title of the article is, Throwing light on law office design, but the ideas are good for any office. Legal offices, similarly to others, no longer need to be cluttered with boxes and papers and fax machines. This leaves room for a greater focus on inviting and accessible design features.

The article was written by Cat Woods.

Access Consultants’ Magazine: Focus on Workplaces

Front cove of the magazine.

The Association of Consultants in Access Australia (ACAA) magazine has an edition that focuses on workplaces. Office fit-outs, workstations, emergency evacuation, working from home and the virtual world are all covered. Some content includes reference to Standards and is technical in nature.

Mary-Ann Jackson and Saumya Kaushik discuss issues from the perspective of COVID-19 and working from home. Eric Martin gives technical detail on office fit-outs. Inclusive and accessible online events and meetings are covered by Art Phonsawat.

Access Insight is available to view on the issue platform or you can download a pdf version. 

Accessible and inclusive cities: case study

The research team with the Mayor (standing).
Bunbury research group

Talking about universal design is all very well, but it takes collective action to make it happen. Collective action for accessible and inclusive cities requires everyone to get on board and work together. And “everyone” means governments at all levels, urban planners and designers, construction companies, contractors and tradespeople. Everyone also means citizens and this is where co-design methods come in. 

Two case studies form the basis of a research paper on two regional centres in Australia. One is in Geelong in Victoria and the other in Bunbury, Western Australia. The authors describe the collaborative and action oriented process in both studies. 

A note of caution. Many local governments have little power over developments that not funded by them limiting what they can achieve. Private and commercial developers can legally challenge any requirements beyond the building codes. 

Recommendations for both centres emerged from the research process. The key recommendation is to use a co-design and co-research process. The authors take a universal design to the whole process and recommendations. They also call for enhanced standards including mandating co-design. 

The title of the paper is, Accessible and Inclusive Cities: Exposing Design and Leadership Challenges for Bunbury and Geelong. It is open access. 

Two of the authors, Adam Johnson and Hing-Wah Chau, were speakers at the 4th Australian Universal Design Conference. Papers were published by Griffith University.  

From the abstract

This article compares research identifying the systemic barriers to disability access and inclusion in two regional Australian cities. We discuss some of the leadership and design challenges that government and industry need to address to embed universal design principles within urban planning, development.

In Geelong, Victoria, the disability community sought a more holistic and consultative approach to addressing access and inclusion. Systems‐thinking was used to generate recommendations for action around improving universal design regulations and  community attitudes to disability. This included access to information, accessible housing, partnerships, and employment of people with disability.

In Bunbury, Western Australia, a similar project analysed systemic factors affecting universal design at a local government level. Recommendations for implementing universal design included staff training, policies and procedures, best practice benchmarks, technical support and engagement in co‐design.

Universal design and local government

Three children, each a wheelchair user, are enjoying the spinner in the playground: a universal design.
Children enjoying the spinner in the playground

Here is an earlier paper from Adam Johnson who used Bunbury in Western Australia as a case study for his presentation at the UD2021 Australian Universal Design Conference. Bunbury set itself an aim, and a challenge, to be the “Most Accessible Regional City in Australia”. Adam explained how he used participatory action research (PAR) methods to meet Bunbury’s challenge. Universal design in local government means involving the people who are the subject of the research. In this case, people with disability and older people. 

PAR has three principles: 

    • The people most affected by the research problem should participate in ways that allow them to share control over the research process
    • The research should lead to some tangible action within the immediate context
    • The process should demonstrate rigour and integrity. 

Adam recruited 11 co-researchers to work with him: 6 people with disability, 3 family carers, and 2 support workers.

Local government is where the ‘rubber hits the road’. Local government is best placed to work with residents and understand the context of where they live, and it means they can be innovative with solutions tailored to local needs. 

The research project had a positive impact:

– Greater alignment between policies and practices at the City of Bunbury with universal design.
– Co design panel created informing many current infrastructure projects.
– Universal design standards adopted.
– Staff and contractors trained in Universal Design.
– $100,000 per annum allocated for auditing and retrofitting

The project was undertaken with a three year industry engagement scholarship with Edith Cowan University. The title of Adam’s presentation is, Universal design in local government: Participatory action research findings.