Taskar Center for Accessible Technology

01/23/2026

We were so proud this week to support the Vancouver Walk & Roll event, expertly facilitated by Anna Zivarts and the Nondriver's Alliance. What made this event especially meaningful was seeing , our statewide, consistent pedestrian dataset, in action. Not just as a dataset transportation planners can rely on, but as a living system where communities actively contribute to and shape the data.

Funded by a legislative proviso, OS-CONNECT is open, shared infrastructure for pedestrian data. It enables communities, agencies, and planners to collaboratively build, validate, and use sidewalk and accessibility data across tools and contexts.

Folks at the event, including elected officials, advocates, and planners experienced firsthand how to contribute pedestrian data using AVIV ScoutRoute. At the same time, students from the Washington State School for the Blind used that same data to navigate real routes in AccessMap.app. Most importantly, participants shared real-time feedback: filled in additional detail, identified where conditions were poor, found delight in agreeing with good data that accompanied our hour-long walkabout! That feedback loop is where data truly comes alive.

We’re grateful for the engagement, and how storytelling through data brings these diverse groups together around a shared goal: the freedom to go where you want, with dignity.

Our work touches all travelers. We invite you to join us at 2026, learn more about pedestrian access and reach and how we can make real change, on February 26–27 to experience it firsthand:

https://tcat.cs.washington.edu/otp2026/

11/13/2025

alt text: A flyer for TCAT and PROVAIL's annual toy hackathon . Sign up to request or sponsor a toy at tinyURL.com/ToyHack2025 (http://tinyurl.com/ToyHack2025)
PROVAIL is once again partnering with the University of Washington’s Taskar Center for Accessible Technology for TCAT’s Annual Holiday Toy Hackathon! Families of youth and adults with disabilities are invited to request or sponsor a switch-accessible toy.
Please submit this form by November 28th.
Sign-up form: www.tinyURL.com/ToyHack2025
The Holiday Hackathon reflects one of the Taskar Center’s core missions to increase access to play and recreation through technology supported community projects.
Thank you!

TCAT harnesses the power of open-source technology to develop, translate, and deploy accessible technologies, and then sustain them in the hands of communities. Housed by the Paul G. Allen School for Computer Science & Engineering, TCAT centers the experience of people with disabilities as a lens fo...

02/03/2025

We are excited to invite you to OpenThePaths 2025: Advancing Complete Streets Through, Data, Collaboration, and Advocacy!

📍 Our annual mini-conference at the University of Washington brings together experts and advocates to explore transportation and mobility equity solutions. Over the past decade, we’ve made incredible strides in prioritizing walkability, accessibility, and active transportation.

🗺️ This year, we are proud to launch OS-CONNECT, the first-ever statewide, standardized sidewalk dataset for Washington State, funded by the WA state legislative proviso.

📅 We hope you can join us this March 27th and 28th to hear from transportation advocates from all sectors, and learn more about the OS-CONNECT dataset!

🔗 Register now at tinyurl.com/openthepaths2025!

01/21/2025

There's still time to apply for a SCLIO grant! Check out the post below for more information or head to TinyURL.com/SCLIO

Check out our exciting funding opportunity for community projects based in Washington! ⭐

The Specialized Community-Led Impact Opportunity (SCLIO) grant allows teams and organizations to imagine how our sidewalk database, called OS-CONNECT, may drive change in their communities. We are looking for proposals relating to location-specific issues, public education, and dreams for future improvements.

Step 1: Explore the SCLIO grant program at tinyurl.com/SCLIO

Step 2: Read our eligibility criteria and funding restrictions to determine if you are eligible to apply for a SCLIO grant

Step 3: Teams that fit the eligibility criteria are invited to apply online at tinyurl.com/SCLIOapplication

Deadline is January 25th , 2025! Apply now at the link in our bio❗

01/15/2025

Calling all trip planners!
We want your feedback about how to improve AccessMap.app

Read below about our paid survey opportunity-
💡Step 1: Get started
Create your route and customize mobility preferences, if needed.
💡Step 2: Follow the Route
Start the navigation after planning your trip.
💡Step 3: End the Trip
Exit the navigation window to launch the survey.
💡Step 4: Rate the Trip
Rate your session to access the post-trip survey.
💡Step 5: Post-Trip Survey
After submitting your rating, a link to the post-trip survey will appear.
💡Step 6: During the Survey
Some things to note while you complete the survey- Don't edit the trip ID #, and be sure to provide your email so we can pay you!

Get started now at AccessMap.app in any browser!

01/14/2025

Check out our exciting funding opportunity for community projects based in Washington! ⭐

The Specialized Community-Led Impact Opportunity (SCLIO) grant allows teams and organizations to imagine how our sidewalk database, called OS-CONNECT, may drive change in their communities. We are looking for proposals relating to location-specific issues, public education, and dreams for future improvements.

Step 1: Explore the SCLIO grant program at tinyurl.com/SCLIO

Step 2: Read our eligibility criteria and funding restrictions to determine if you are eligible to apply for a SCLIO grant

Step 3: Teams that fit the eligibility criteria are invited to apply online at tinyurl.com/SCLIOapplication

Deadline is January 25th , 2025! Apply now at the link in our bio❗

12/12/2024

Ready to kick off the new year with purpose? Join our OpenSidewalks Team Challenge! 🚶‍♀️🗺️

Help us improve sidewalks and accessibility in your community while having fun and making a difference. 🌟
Sign up by Dec 27 at TinyURL.com/HNY25/ to get started!

Together, we can make our streets better for everyone. Let’s map for change! ✨

11/22/2024

Huge thank you to Gabriel Laigo and Natalie VanDevanter from PROVAIL for volunteering and helping fabricate 27 adaptive switches for the PNW Adaptive Library!

🎉 Huge thanks to the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology
for hosting their incredible Holiday Hackathon!

PROVAIL’s Assistive Technologist, Gabriel Laigo, COTA/L, and AT Specialist, Natalie VanDevanter, proudly volunteered at this inspiring event, where 27 adaptive switches were fabricated for PROVAIL’s PNW Adaptive Library. 🕹️

We’re so grateful for the creativity and collaboration that drive accessibility forward. Together, we’re making a difference!



Accessibility caption: The image is a colorful display of adaptive switches.

11/21/2024

🎉 Congrats to Finn and his team, Mochi Island, the Walktober Team Challenge Champions! 🎉

A special shoutout to Finn, a student at Lakeside Middle School who led an effort that completed over 100 quests in GoInfoGame this Walktober! His impressive efforts contributed more than 800 attributes and data points about the public right-of-way in Shoreline’s downtown area, paving the way for a more accessible and inclusive community, and specifically helping to create an accessibility map of the pedestrian ways in the area.

Finn's contributions will be part of the Washington State Unified Sidewalks Dataset—a first-of-its-kind resource dedicated to transportation data equity, funded by Washington State Proviso ESB 1124 .111 and spearheaded by the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology. This data will go public, open and live in June 2025, offering a comprehensive look at sidewalk accessibility across the state and also contributing to our routing application, AccessMap.app

Want to learn more about the proviso initiative and the Transportation Data Equity Initiative? Visit sidewalks.washington.edu

Interested in joining a future team challenge or have a friendly at your organization? Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter at TinyURL.com/TCATsignup

Let’s work together toward an accessible future!

11/13/2024

We're excited to announce that TCAT director, Anat Caspi, will be speaking at next week's Tech Alliance Conference on the powerful intersection of AI and community engagement! Anat will be discussing how through WA legislative support we're using AI to collect pedestrian infrastructure data across Washington state and how community input is integral to shaping equitable transportation solutions. Read more at TinyURL.com/WAStateProviso

You can still sign up for a slot and join the conversation! Register now at https://tinyurl.com/TAPolicyMatters

11/04/2024

Calling all makers, tinkerers, and accessibility advocates!
Our annual hackathon is coming up on Sunday, November 17th, and we want to see you there

To volunteer, sign up now: https://forms.gle/tvuMXtjhEkM5SEZi7

06/14/2024

Yesterday, I was so deeply grateful for the opportunity to present to the White House, again, at the WH conference on hashtag . This incredible moment is the culmination of years of dedicated work with the support of Washington State Department of Transportation, Microsoft and USDOT Office of Research and Technology Joint Program Office (JPO) . I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the amazing students and staff at the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology who have supported the vision for the Transportation Data Equity Initiative, and AccessMap. Their hard work and commitment have been instrumental in reaching this milestone.

There's so much work to do! We continue to build capabilities and incorporating them into the Transportation Data Equity Initiative, essemtial to fulfilling the White House vision of a complete transportation data observatory (https://lnkd.in/gffXuGF6). Together, we can continue to advance this important work and create a safer, more equitable transportation system for all.

picture: White Housee panel "AI in Transportation: Mapping, Visualizing, and Building the Future." This panel focused on developing a national transportation infrastructure observatory and an accompanying application ecosystem (resonant with the infrastructure). Help us continue to advance . sign up to support our work, today! https://tinyurl.com/TCATSignUp