This document summarizes a meeting about making Bath more accessible for wheelchairs. The goals were to gather information on accessibility issues, demonstrate the Wheelmap app for mapping accessible locations, and develop a community mapping project. Ideas included recruiting volunteers to add local businesses to Wheelmap, with an initial target of locations within a mile of the city center by an agreed date. Progress would be tracked online, and other tools or events were discussed to continue improving accessibility information.

1. Accessible Bath
8th February 2016
@BathHacked

2. We make useful things

3. Agenda
● Introduction and Goals
● Getting some insight into local issues and the
problems that people are facing
● Wheelmap.org Demo
● A proposed plan of action
● Share ideas about tools and approaches
● Next Steps

4. Introduction
● How we got here
● Goals for the evening:
– How we can gather better information about
accessibility of local spaces?
– What tools and support can Bath: Hacked provide?
– Identify a plan of action to work as a community
group
– Share ideas and thoughts

5. Getting Insight
● What problems are people facing?
● What information do people need?
● What information would it be useful to collect
and share?

7. Wheelmap.org
● A map for finding wheelchair accessible
spaces
● Free and open for anyone to edit or improve
● Available online and via mobile applications
● Covers 130 different types of location
● Demo: Wheelmap Bath

8. Wheelmap.org
● Handout for mappers
● Could add to & improve the map
– Whilst out and about the city
– From home, in a browser
● Maps can be embedded in other websites
– Useful for councils and other local places?
● Data and information can be reused to create
other tools and guides

9. Community Mapping Project
● Work together to help gather information about
local places
– Add items to the map ourselves
– Run a local campaign to recruit others
– Ask local businesses, etc to add themselves to the map
● Agree an initial target, e.g. all locations within a
mile of the city centre
– Give everyone something to work towards
– A sense of progress and collective action

10. Community Mapping Project
● Agree an initial target, e.g. all locations within a mile
of the city centre
– Give everyone something to work towards
– A sense of progress and collective action
– Agree on a target date
● Run training to help out mappers
● Use this to build out further
– Beyond the city
– Recruit more people

11. Tracking Progress
http://crashthatch.com/wheelmap/

12. Other tools and ideas
● Identifying problems or issues in the city?
● Mapping / tracking accessible routes?
● ...what do you think?

13. Next steps
● Write up and circulate ideas
● Keep the discussion going
● Possible additional events?
– E.g. awareness raising, training with Wheelmap

14. your local open data project
Leigh Dodds, 10th February 2016
@BathHacked @ldodds