AccessiTech

Inspiration

We started our brainstorming process by asking each other what we were passionate about and how we wanted to contribute to the world with our Computer Science degree. We met each other in a frontend class project (CISC275!) last year and realized we were all passionate about creating web pages that inspired change and inclusivity. As we delved deeper into discussions, we recognized a significant gap in accessibility on our campus. Being an old campus, a lot of the spaces were not designed with all users in mind, inadvertently excluding those with disabilities. This realization fueled our determination to leverage our skills in Computer Science to make a meaningful impact. We envisioned AccessiTech as a platform to champion accessibility, ensuring that everyone, regardless of ability, could navigate their campus effortlessly. We also envision it as a way for people with similar experiences can connect with each other through local support groups.

What it does

AccessiTech is a web application aimed at providing up-to-date information on accessibility features to locations. Such as wheelchair-accessible ramps, elevators, and gender-inclusive bathrooms. AccessiTech also aims to connect you with others through your school's student-run organizations and nearby groups focused on accessibility. Use our map to view the locations of these features, or use our text feature to connect with people nearby!

How we built it

We used TypeScript with React components. We built our components with the Bootstrap library and styled them using a combination of CSS and the styled-components library. We used Smalltalk to parse the data we collected from schools online and format it correctly for our JSON files and interfaces. We used the MapTiler API to display the map. We used GitHub pages to deploy

Challenges we ran into

We ran into trouble with the state not updating properly when filtering the map and using the chatrooms. Working on backend development was a huge struggle as well. We also stayed up all night for this and had trouble staying awake by the end.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of our idea and execution as a whole! When we first came up with the idea, it sounded too complicated to complete in 24 hours. But we are so proud of ourselves for not giving up and pushing through any and all problems to completion!

What we learned

We learned how to call an API, how to incorporate backend with MongoDB, how to link a gh-pages link to a GoDaddy domain link, how to add a scrolling navbar in react, how to incorporate text-to-speech using react, and how to build a web application in 24 hours :)

What's next for AccessiTech

We want to expand our data to all schools, add a login page to authenticate user identity, add other accessibility locators such as hearing aid batteries on campus, outlets for wheelchairs, and much more.