Google expands crowdsourcing to add accessibility info to maps

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Google is turning to its users to help update the accessibility information in its Maps feature.

Google Maps already indicates if a location is wheelchair accessible, but the new effort will add more detailed information.  Google is asking its Local Guides — the community of individuals who contribute information to maps — to answer five questions about local establishments:

  • Is there a wheelchair-accessible entrance?
  • Is there a wheelchair-accessible restroom?
  • Is there wheelchair-accessible seating?
  • Is there wheelchair-accessible parking?
  • Is there a wheelchair-accessible elevator?

It just takes a few seconds to answer the questions, writes Sasha Blair-Goldensohn in a Google blog post, but the impact is large.  He adds, “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.”

Image source: Google