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ALUMNI DIARY
LIFE STORY
Opening doors How Maayan Ziv created a global accessibility app
I’d just started my second degree at Ryerson—a master of digital media—and my classmates and I were heading out to celebrate the beginning of the year. It was a place nearby, but off-campus; there was no way to find out in advance if it was accessible. When we got there, there were four steps to the entrance, so I had to find my way in through a narrow alleyway. It was stinky and dark, and we had to use flashlights and move garbage bins just so I could get in.
› It’s a problem I’ve experienced my entire life. I have muscular dystrophy and I’ve used a wheelchair since I was a little kid. Finding accessible places usually involved a lot of time-consuming research, like calling every place I was ever going and trying to get someone on the other end of the phone who might have some kind of an idea whether their business is accessible—which most of the time, they don’t. It’s frustrating. For people with disabilities, it’s so much of an effort to just go about your day—let alone trying to find a good job, go to school or even have a decent social life.
› That night, I realized that I had a unique opportunity to address a significant problem in an innovative way, because my program focused on tech and entrepreneurship. I decided to build a website that would use crowdsourcing to pinpoint the accessibility status of locations. But I had no background in tech and I’d never built a business before; my undergrad was in Radio and Television Arts. How do you take an idea and turn it into a real thing?
› It was a matter of reaching out to people who had the answers. I tried to access as much of Ryerson as I could while I was there. We had a design and UX class, so I would spend time doing prototypes and wireframes, and collaborating with my classmates. I connected with entrepreneurs at Ryerson, and pitched and applied for grants. Initially, it was about being scrappy and leveraging opportunities that were given to students to develop new technology.
› In 2015, a week before I graduated, AccessNow launched. More than three years later, we’re still going strong. When we started, there were other websites and apps that were doing similar things in specific cities or countries, but from day one, we wanted to be global. Today, we’re in 34 countries around the world, from Australia, to Tel Aviv, to Halifax.
› Being in the tech space isn’t “wins” every day. It’s really tough work and there have been moments when we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to continue. But our community has grown and is motivated to create change. Our users message us with stories of challenges and more joyful moments.
› Someone once reached out and said, “I’m planning on going to lunch with someone who needs an accessible location, and I used the app to find someplace that’s suitable.” That’s such a great story. People assume AccessNow is just for people with disabilities, but it’s for everyone—parents with strollers, event planners and educational institutions are all using the app. The same goes for contributing. It’s an open invitation—you don’t need to have a disability.
› At its core, AccessNow is really about creating change when it comes to making a truly more accessible world for people of all abilities. It’s an integral component to how we create an inclusive culture and environment for all people. Regardless of who you are, you’re going to need access at some point in your life—so why not help today, instead of later?
—As told to Jessica Wynne Lockhart
34 Ryerson University Magazine / Summer 2019
