Accessible Columbia

Home page
Accessibility attributes on each marker

Inspiration

During NSOP, Kexin bought a mini fridge at the eco sale. But it was too large to carry by themself, and they had no idea how to get from East Campus to their dorm with a cart. Keona came across the same issue trying to lug her DDR board from the Makerspace back to her dorm. Back and forth for WEEKS. Google Maps is a powerful tool for navigation, however, it struggles on college campuses like ours because of a lack of data on the locations of accessible architecture.

What it does

This platform compiles detailed information about the most accessible paths throughout the university, highlighting accessibility markers at every building, dining hall, and campus entrance. Use the search function on the front page to plan your routes, select markers to find which buildings, dining halls, and entrances are accessible!

We aim to make it easier for everyone to navigate Columbia with confidence, whether you are heading to class, dining, or attending an event. In addition, we provide real-time updates on accessibility alerts, keeping you informed of any disruptions or changes to campus routes. Should you encounter any issues, our easy-to-use interface allows you to report repairs directly to Hartley Hospitality for swift action.

How we built it

We pulled the Google Maps API for routing, and edited it to add markers and flags to keep track of accessible attributes of buildings, dining halls, and entrances. We built the webpage through HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Challenges we ran into

We faced tons of challenges throughout the project, from learning how to effectively use the Google Maps API to understanding its restrictions and limitations. Debugging was another hurdle, as we worked through issues with functionality and design. Despite these setbacks, we gained valuable experience problem-solving and finding solutions, which ultimately improved our skills and the final product.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

First hackathon! Super proud of our product and our work :)

What we learned

We learned a lot about web development, debugging, and design through our project. Working with different coding technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, we gained a lot of experience working with front-end web development. We also improved our problem-solving skills while debugging and learned how to balance functionality with user-friendly and accessible design. Overall, the project helped us strengthen our teamwork and communication skills, while also giving us a deeper understanding of the development process.

What's next for Accessible Columbia

We're looking to expand our webpage to include East Campus, Barnard, and Teacher's College -- places that students often have to go for class or dining! Eventually, we might extend this further into NYC.

Additionally, we want our webpage to have more accessibility features, including text-to-audio features, especially for accessibility flags on buildings. We're also thinking of implementing location-based live audio navigation assistance that responds to the user reaching intermediate steps to their destination. Finally, we want to update our current version of the project by implementing more precise identifiers for the locations of elevators, escalators, and ramps within specific buildings.