“I never realized sidewalks were a big deal”: A Case Study of a Community-Driven Sidewalk Audit Using Project Sidewalk

Chu Li, Katrina Ma, Michael Saugstad, Kie Fujii, Molly Delaney, Yochai Eisenberg, Delphine Labbé, Judy L. Shanley, Devon Snyder, Florian P. Thomas, Jon E. Froehlich

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Despite decades of effort, pedestrian infrastructure in cities continues to be unsafe or inaccessible to people with disabilities. In this paper, we examine the potential of community-driven digital civics to assess sidewalk accessibility through a deployment study of an open-source crowdsourcing tool called Project Sidewalk. We explore Project Sidewalk's potential as a platform for civic learning and service. Specifically, we assess its effectiveness as a tool for community members to learn about human mobility, urban planning, and accessibility advocacy. Our findings demonstrate that community-driven digital civics can support accessibility advocacy and education, raise community awareness, and drive pro-social behavioral change. We also outline key considerations for deploying digital civic tools in future community-led accessibility initiatives.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCHI 2024 - Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Sytems
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)9798400703300
DOIs
StatePublished - May 11 2024
Event2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Sytems, CHI 2024 - Hybrid, Honolulu, United States
Duration: May 11 2024May 16 2024

Publication series

NameConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Sytems, CHI 2024
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityHybrid, Honolulu
Period5/11/245/16/24

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design

Keywords

  • accessibility
  • community science
  • crowdsourcing
  • digital civics
  • service learning

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