Button

A mobile app transforming physical buttons in the public domain into accessible digital versions for people with disabilities, enhancing their interaction with public services.

Team Size:
1
Location:
Australia
Founders:
Jason Woelfl
Program(s):

The Problem

On a daily basis, people living with a disability have difficulty interacting with public buttons, such as lift buttons, crosswalk buttons, and stop buttons on buses. Disability in our context is defined as any physical or cognitive challenge to access or know the presence of physical buttons. Our project, “Button”, aims to address the accessibility challenges faced by people with disabilities in interacting with public buttons. .

The Solution

Our solution is a mobile app that transforms physical buttons into digital twins, allowing users to operate them from their smartphones using bespoke interfaces. It places the button exactly where a person with a mobility disability needs it, at their fingertip. It works by connecting the bluetooth signal on a mobile phone to a physical button allowing you to select that service on your own device. With Button you can push stop on a bus, cross at a crosswalk or up on a lift, all from your mobile. In effect turning physical buttons into accessible digital buttons. We can also create new virtual buttons that currently don't exist such a hail button for a bus. When hailing a bus, people with mobility and other cognitive limitations often have trouble signalling to the driver. The ability to notify the driver would allow the driver to prepare to get out of their seat to let a wheelchair on, notify passengers to vacate wheelchair seats and allow for a longer stop.