Collaborative accessibility guide for people with restricted mobility

• Grant number: 18/09809-0
• Support type: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Duration: August 01, 2019 - July 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Computer Science - Computer Systems
• Cooperation agreement: FINEP - PIPE/PAPPE Grant
• Principal researcher: Joao Marcos de Mattos Barguil
• Grantee: Joao Marcos de Mattos Barguil
• Company: Guiaderodas Desenvolvimento e Pesquisas Ltda
• City: São Paulo
• Associated grant(s): 19/09913-5 - Collaborative accessibility guide for people with restricted mobility, AP.PIPE
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/24912-5 - Server and database for social interaction in the Guiaderodas App, BP.TT; 19/19451-9 - Sever and database for verified places in guiaderodas platform, BP.TT; 19/22286-0 - Community management: user relationship, activation and engagement, BP.TT; 19/18475-1 - Android and iOS development of the guiaderodas app, BP.TT

Abstract

One in seven people in the world have some kind of disability. In Brazil, conservative Census estimates point to more than 13 million people with physical disabilities. In addition, there are around 30 million elderly people in the country, 14 million children between 0 and 4 years of age and 2.5 million pregnant women, who can also be seen as "people with limited mobility". For these people, their friends and family, everyday acts like leaving home can pose major challenges due to the lack of accessibility in places and venues.Focusing on this issue, guiaderodas was created, an accessibility company with three major focal points: Cause, Services and Technology. Firstly, the guiaderodas initiative aims to raise public awareness about the issue of accessibility, showing that everyone needed, need or will need accessibility one day, either by a permanent condition or by a temporary event (such as a broken leg example). In addition, as a first result of technological research, a geolocation-based collaborative application has been published. In this crowdsourcing platform, disabled and non-disabled users can give their opinion about the accessibility of any venue through a quick and simplified assessment. The application also supports searches and queries, serving as a handy tool for people with limited mobility to safely plan their outings.Financial sustainability comes from the sales of consulting services for companies and buildings. These services go beyond the architectural analysis based on laws and norms, also evaluating aspects of functionality and usability of the spaces, as well as providing attitudinal training for customer service improvement. However, demand increase leads to growth difficulties inherent to consulting services.In order to expand its operations, the goal is to increase the scalability of the products and services resulting from innovation research works carried out so far, so that they can serve the big market. For the mobile app, it is planned to extend its functionalities, consolidating it as the "Platform of the person with limited mobility", aggregating relevant contents and news and encouraging collaboration through "positive competition", through the adoption of elements of gamification. For the Services, this is done by creating a simplified technology-based assessment, lowering its costs and opening up job opportunities: on-site visits are carried out by users of the application, always wheelchair users, hired and paid for each visit. Thus, the model also serves as a source of extra income and a channel for using these people's practical knowledge for the sake of improving accessibility throughout the country.The experience of wheelchair users and people with disabilities is valued by financially compensating them. Thus, guiaderodas is able to provide a useful product for venues and establishments and maximize its social impact, by transforming "disabilities" into virtues. By improving the mobile app, it becomes more attractive, engaging and useful, as well as opening up new possibilities for creating revenue streams. (AU)