Project Overview

The purpose of the “Accessibility for All” project is to explore the usefulness of the digitized Remote Accessibility Assessment System (RAAS) to people with disabilities in underserved areas. A previous study that applied the RAAS to three houses in the Pittsburgh, PA area confirmed that the System was able to evaluate the accessibility of the target built environment. By applying the System to Hawaiian Islanders with disabilities, this study can demonstrate that the System can be applied in remote and underserved communities. The study can also assist in evaluating the application of the RAAS in the workplace.

The study will recruit three users of a wheeled mobility device (WMD) in Hawai‘i and assess the problems of accessibility for them in their daily work activities. The study will use two methods for evaluating accessibility in the same work situations: 1) the RAAS (the experimental method), and 2) Conventional In Person (the control method). The study will compare the RAAS results with the Conventional In Person (CIP) results.

The study will use hardware and software to facilitate the RAAS evaluation of built environments. The RAAS method will use a consumer-level digital camera and Photomodeler Pro 5.0 to construct 3D models of the target environment. A Web-based decision-supporting system and wheelchair maneuvering simulation system will also be used.

If the study demonstrates that the RAAS yields results comparable to the CIP method, digital assessment of homes, government buildings, and work places can be used to design modifications that increase accessibility, saving both time and money for WMD users and property owners alike. The project can also lead to rapid digitization of a real-world environment into a virtual 3-D environment for the purposes of remodeling and testing of current and future layouts. Further, success with this project will also mean accessibility assessment for WMD users in remote and underserved areas across the U.S. and other regions.