Autonomous driving startup Waymo launches its Waymo Accessibility Network this week.
In a blog post published on Thursday, autonomous driving startup Waymo announced the formation of what the Mountain View-based company calls the Waymo Accessibility Network. Waymo notes in the announcement the initiative is meant to “formalize and scale our longstanding collaboration with disability advocates, [and will] expand inclusion of their crucial voices and valuable perspectives as we work together to shape the future of transportation.”
The Waymo Accessibility Network is essentially an extension of Waymo’s work on its eponymous Waymo One ride-hail service, which is currently available in San Francisco and Phoenix via an app on iOS and Android. According to Waymo, the overarching goal of the network is to bring together Waymo One-using members of the disability community who care about—and are invested in—the future of transport in society. The company says it’s committed to partnering with organizations, both national and regional non-profit entities, who support disabled people of all ages and all abilities. Waymo says there are thirteen inaugural members of the network, including the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the American Council of the Blind (ACB), and the San Francisco-headquartered Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
The Waymo Accessibility Network’s roots can be traced back to the early days of Google’s self-driving car project. That Waymo is so passionate about helping disabled people in particular access the world by more easily getting around it makes perfect sense in context. Driving a car today is beyond many disabled people’s ken, myself included. It’s both practically and legislatively impossible. Waymo has taken on the monumental task of reaching for what is inarguably accessibility’s conceptual zenith: self-driving vehicles. As I wrote last December, a fully autonomous driving system is the only avenue by which Blind and low vision people will ever be able to enjoy the luxuries of driving. There certainly are regulatory and financial hurdles to overcome, but the technology is paramount.
For most, self-driving is sheer convenience. Waymo realizes the grander picture.
“We were founded on a mission of saving lives, improving independence, and creating new mobility options,” said Heather Aijian, who serves as Waymo’s public affairs manager, in an exclusive interview with me conducted by email. “Waymo desires to create a product that serves the needs of all riders, and the Waymo Accessibility Network creates a forum to hear directly from that community to help us research, design, and deploy accessible solutions [for disabled riders].”
“At Waymo, we have always believed that an inclusive design process makes the end product better for everyone, and we know we’re building a journey, not just a technology. [We strive to] refine the details of touch points along the journey; collaboration with people with disabilities has been and will continue to be indispensable,” Waymo said of their institutional ethos in a statement for today’s post. “Waymo believes in the disability community's mantra ‘nothing about us without us’ as we leverage technology to bring new transportation options to the marketplace. We look forward to continuing this work and welcoming additional organizations as we grow and scale the Waymo Accessibility Network.”
These words aren’t fluffy or empty bromides. They’re real for Waymo.
“Given the widespread potential benefits of autonomous driving technology, many in the disability community are eager to provide insight and share lived experiences that can help shape the future of accessible transportation,” Aijian said. “As shown through our work in the US [Department of Transportation] Inclusive Design Challenge, partnering directly with disability advocates can help us design and integrate key accessibility features into our Waymo One service.”
Today’s news of the Waymo Accessibility Network’s launch comes almost two months after the company was recognized by the aforementioned Department of Transportation. In early August, the federal agency lauded Waymo for its work on the Inclusive Design Challenge. The company was a semifinalist for its work in designing plans for an accessible ride experience, replete with various assistive technologies like screen readers and an array of other sensors. The prototypes were tested by San Francisco residents who are Blind and low vision.
