Why you matter to EnAccess Maps

“Do we have to call it EnAccess Maps?”

“Fine. We’ll rebrand it to ‘Please Let Me Into This Building.’”

Consider you, a variable in the universe. Let you = t. Now, assume (say, it’s given) that ‘t’ is near‑sighted, wears over $200 prescription glasses, and still prefers drinking their strawberry matcha latte with oat milk and three pumps of caramel in Melbourne’s cafes.

So, we have

{Author’s Note: Don't worry, this won’t get technical. I just enjoy using a bit of math to simplify ideas. People always say “math is everywhere,” so... here’s a little proof (pun intended) of that!}

Now, ‘t’ and ‘t’s grandmother have decided to spend a day together and get brunch. t’s grandmother is a bit restricted in the places she can visit due to her age. Let’s call the set of all the places she can easily visit and enjoy as ‘q’.

To simplify, let’s say that t’s grandmother cannot visit a place which has stairs, so

where 'U' denotes all the possible places in the universe, and let all the places which t can enjoy as be denoted as

Now, ‘t’ has navigated Melbourne’s pedestrian network using Google Maps, boarded the accessible trams and has arrived at the set destination. An artisanal cafe. It’s minimalist yet retro, the barista has a blue fringe, and the wooden tables look just the right amount of moldy.

However, Murphy’s Law kicks in and ‘t’ just now notices the steps at the entrance. With t’s grandmother in a wheelchair it’d be hard to walk inside the cafe with no ramps in sight, at least with t’s vision.

So,

{meaning: the places both t and t’s grandmother can enjoy} cannot exist in a subset where {stairs} exist, i.e.,

Thus rendering (t and t’s grandmother) unable to enjoy the cafe’s ambience.

Basically, if there are stairs at a cafe, t and t’s grandmother will not be able to visit, regardless of how tasty the coffee is.

Admittedly, not all elements in the equation were strictly necessary to solve the problem, like t = t1 + t2, the oat milk and caramel pumps didn’t directly impact my answer of the accessibility problem put forth above. But that’s the thing about life and experiences: not everything is mathematically relevant or affects the numbers, yet all of it is humanly significant.

EnAccess Maps was created with this very understanding, this idea that people are more than variables, and accessibility is about more than ramps or stairs. Where numbers might ignore your myopia and grandmother, EnAccess doesn’t, because what matters to you should shape the world around you. We want to change the equation so that

Ideal:

and therefore,

That equation above represents a world where t’s grandmother has the freedom to enjoy and experience the places ‘t’ likes.

One of our aims here is to break the myth that accessibility is only for people with permanent disabilities. Accessibility matters to all of us, or eventually will, even if we don’t realise or notice it at the moment. It might look like a cyclist struggling to lift their bike over stairs. Or a parent navigating uneven footpaths with a stroller. A delivery rider looking for a safe, step-free entrance to park their vehicle or carry a heavy package. A tourist dragging a bulky suitcase.

And for the mobility aid community, this isn't a passing inconvenience. It’s a daily barrier in the form of missed opportunities, unentered cafés, brunches that didn’t happen where intended, and even more. This isn’t just a moral or legal issue.

This problem stems from what humanity has considered “normal” for centuries. As times and decades change, so do our bodies and the way the world works. What worked before might not work anymore.And what’s been “standard” or “normal” has often left people out.

While new laws and social norms have passed judgements to make spaces accessible, it seems as if the people responsible for helping the special needs community access their rights are themselves unaware of these new changes. The destination has been concretised but only with a jagged route.

Even if some places brand themselves as accessible, the question posed is if these places are truly what they market themselves to be. Simply talking about it, or putting a handle in the restroom and a slope at the entrance does not make a space ‘accessible’. Accessibility is far deeper than that.

The Oxford dictionary defines accessibility as “the quality of being able to be reached or entered.” True accessibility lies in ensuring each bit of the space is designed keeping in mind the comfort of different kinds of people in different walks of lives, like a few tables with adjustable height for toddlers and wheelchair-users, pamphlets with braille for the visual aid community, visual alarms or communication features for those hard of hearing, and the like.

My point is that accessibility challenges are often invisible unless they affect you or someone you care about. However, we at EnAccess Maps want to bring them to light. We believe that change starts with awareness and taking a small step towards that is always better than keeping quiet and doing nothing.

EnAccess Maps’ map-based interface allows the users to understand if the space they wish to access can accommodate them via photos and descriptions. From parking spaces and entrances to the height of tables, we do our best to capture it all and convey it to the user in just a single click so that they can enjoy their outing the same way we do.

Because if you're going to overpay for caffeine and corrective lenses, the least the universe can offer is a venue that doesn’t treat accessibility like a design afterthought.