The Crowd4Access University of Galway footpath mapping initiative: Improving accessibility through collaborating in Citizen Science

The Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics Crowd4Access project engages the community to recognise and document accessibility barriers on footpaths in Irish towns and cities and share this information online. University of Galways Access Centre supports people to realise their educational potential, irrespective of their educational background, age, ability or personal health circumstances. We work together to help people of all ages and abilities navigate the urban built environment. Through citizen science, we engage students and colleagues as partners in research to improve the accessibility of the University of Galway campus and the city beyond. As well as providing valuable route-planning information to all campus and city users, including over 18,000 students, this raises awareness about accessibility, builds community and encourages positive action. It provides students of data science and other relevant disciplines with a volunteering opportunity that is directly related to their studies and developing expertise. It utilises existing free, open-sourced software to gather and disseminate footpath accessibility data and directly informs the development of machine-learning technology for the benefit of society.