Accessible Walking Directions Wins the AOL/TopCoder Sensations Challenge

The AOL/TopCoder® Sensations Developer Challenge culminated at the 2009 TopCoder Open (TCO) which took place June 1 – June 4, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV. Accessible Walking Directions was selected as the winning accessibility application from several that were developed by competition participants.

In January, AOL, in coordination with TopCoder, launched the Sensations challenge with the goal of having technological solutions developed by participants to enhance the accessibility of AOL products and services. In March, two submitted application concepts were selected as challenge finalists by the Sensations Advisory Board – Accessible Walking Directions for the blind and My Parents' Email Client for users with cognitive disabilities or little computer experience.

The Accessible Walking Directions application, powered by MapQuest’s routing functionality, is designed to provide blind travelers with a web service that can generate a more detailed set of walking directions than those typically offered in similar applications built for the mass audience. Blind travelers need to know about 1-way and 2-way streets when crossing intersections, points of interest passed along their route and other details about their travel environment that sighted travelers take for granted. GPS-enable tools that offer this granularity cost between $800-$1,000. Accessible Walking Directions was announced as the winning application during a Sensations roundtable at the TCO on June 3. AWD will initially be used for field testing with the blind community to guide further refinement and consideration for future deployment.

Congratulations!