Grant: College & Community Social Innovation Fund

Many mobile applications are available to assist people who face barriers to accessibility, but they are mostly location-based applications that enable people to search for accommodations—e.g., restaurants, stores, and services—that meet their accessibility needs. While some of these applications solve significant problems, many accessibility advocates, including New Brunswick Community College’s research team and partners Ability New Brunswick and the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, have identified fundamental feature and usability gaps in them. The apps we have surveyed also lack support for business and organizations to respond constructively to criticism they might receive. The proposed project will expand this survey via participant surveys and interviews and on-site inspections to further identify gaps in existing accessibility policies and opportunities for improving practices, e.g. with partner the Fredericton Playhouse, which is building a new Performing Arts Centre in downtown Fredericton. The project will identify possibilities for improving accessibility through information and communication technologies such as the use of mobile technologies to help people report accessibility barriers and complementary services to help those responsible for resolving the barriers to receive constructive information and information about resources that can help. Project outreach activities will help the public, businesses, government services, and other entities understand existing accessibility barriers, define the roles of accessibility best practices in removing barriers, and identify practical approaches removing accessibility barriers including use of the knowledge and services offered by our partner organizations. The project will produce technical improvements in report, workshop, and open-source code format, specifically for organizations promoting accessibility, developers in the accessibility app space, and organizations in our community and beyond seeking to improve the accessibility of their venues. NBCC will offer a formalized, paid research assistantship training program that meets the HQP needs of our province. One concrete action NBCC is taking to promote EDI is by a having all assistantship recruitment administered in an inclusive, standardized way by the new NSERC Mobilize-supported position of Research Facilitator for Faculty Engagement, Indigenous Collaborations, Rural Communities, and the Promotion of EDI.