On a trip to London last year, I noticed that while many pubs had wheelchair-accessible entrances, nearly all had restrooms that were up or down a flight of stairs. It struck me: How awful would it be to not have access to a restroom after having a pint?
For anyone with mobility needs, exploring the world means encountering challenges like this. That’s why Google Maps shows accessibility information – so people can find out whether a place they’re going to visit has features like elevators, stair-free entrances, and doorways wide enough for a wheelchair.
This information is powerful, and it helps all kinds of people. Consider those who use walkers or strollers, or the friends and families of anyone with mobility needs.
People have added wheelchair-accessibility details to millions of places. But we can all make a bigger impact. Today, we’re inviting Local Guides to commit to sharing accessibility knowledge on Google Maps. If every Local Guide answers three questions every day for two weeks, we’ll have nearly two billion answers to help everyone navigate the world.
Join me
I’m committing to answering at least five questions each day about places I’ve visited. I’m also going to explore more and take note of the world around me. Instead of rushing for the train to get to work, I’m going to walk back a stop to see how many places I pass have wheelchair-accessible entrances. On an upcoming weekend, I’m going to host a meet-up with my friends to explore new parts of Brooklyn, adding accessibility information as we go.
How to answer wheelchair accessibility question on Google Maps
Join a meet-up, or host one (if you’re a Local Guide Level 3 or higher) to answer accessibility questions with others. Explore a neighborhood, adding info as you go.
When writing a review, point out if a place is set up well for people with mobility issues.
When taking photos of a place, show details that matter most to people who use wheelchairs like the entrance, restroom, and seating.
I hope you’ll join me now and going forward to make the world easier for everyone to navigate. Tell us what you’re doing in a comment and on social with #LocalGuides and #a11y. We can’t wait to see how you make your mark!
We are joined you @TraciC from the first day we joined this program , thinking day and night how to improve the map and how to engage more with members
Make a world wide Meetups and
commit to host a Meetup Every month
2.To answer more than 5 questions daily
Invite more people to join Local guides Program
Use new map Features like add Videos to the map
And more
I encourage all my fellow Local guides to help more and more people even answering one question make deference ,
I try to help with my photos and videos about the traffic, street, light, around the place, sometimes at night conditions. Cause people need to know about the situation and the to go there.
I usually open and tapping the two-line description under a location’s name and add the information
According to the google map apps and the announcement, we can give a desriptions about a places with wheelchair accessibility, but my question is
How people can find a places with wheelchair accessibility near their area ? or how people directly search / type the keyword on google map ? without opening the location.
i/e : We can type " Restaurant Near Me" , Gas Station Near Me, etc and we can see the list of result…
Thanks for sharing this great information and encouraging all of us to take another look at the world around us and help contribute the information need for so many people.
Hi @RahmatHarmanP ! Glad to hear you’re already adding wheelchair accessibility information to Google Maps. If you have an Android device, you can find places near you that are missing this info and edit these attributes by “checking the facts.”
Let’s say i am regular person(not LG) who need a information which restaurant near me who served or have a wheelchair accessibility , it is impossible to click and see the detail of every place one by one ?
i/e : We can type " Restaurant Near Me" , Gas Station Near Me, etc and then we can see the list of result but i can,t find Restaurant with wheelchair near me.
Hope it’s going to be a new feature on the next google map update
Hi @RahmatHarmanP . To clarify, the information I shared earlier is a way for Local Guides to find places that need wheelchair accessible information and is not a way for Local Guides to find places that have wheelchair accessible offerings (like an entrance, restroom or seating). Currently, there isn’t a way to filter your search results — whether you are a Local Guide or someone using Google Maps not as a Local Guide — for wheelchair-accessible places. Hopefully by adding this information to Google Maps, we’ll get closer to making this information easier for those who need it to find it.
I recommend posting your thoughts under “Feedback & Feature Requests” as well as submitting that feedback in the Google Maps app, I’ll also share it, too.
