“Solutions for Inclusion” Hackathon. An interactive platform dedicated to accessibility in the country’s public institutions has been created
Persons with disabilities in our country benefit from a new interactive platform that contains a map of the accessibility of public buildings in Moldova. This has been possible due to the “Solutions for Inclusion” Hackaton, carried out by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC). The project was implemented in the period of 2023-2024 by the “Equal Access for All” team, one of the winners in the competition.
“Due to the hackathon, we managed to bring added value to the efforts of social inclusion of people with disabilities, as we developed a new concept – a platform for analytical visualization of data on the accessibility of public buildings in Moldova,” noted the project coordinator Anatolie Guțu.
About the platform www.accesibilitate.infonet.md
The accessibility of public buildings and urban infrastructure in Moldova is still a barrier to the social inclusion of persons with disabilities. According to the project team, the situation must be constantly monitored, in order to prompt the authorities to solve the problem. “We set out to create a platform where data on building accessibility will be collected, processed and viewed. Over the past year, we managed to have this tool, which presents the real situation. Data can be accessed on www.accesibilitate.infonet.md. Thus, persons with disabilities, together with their families, can have access to this information from any part of the country and at any time,” said Ion Balan, one of the team members.
“Through this platform, we contribute to a better understanding of the needs of people with disabilities and to changing attitudes towards this community – from charitable to ones based on equality in rights. We are going to develop the platform in the medium and long term, with new assessment data and information on accessibility,” the team says.
The platform makes data available in one click and displays them in real time, per geographical areas or fields of activity. “Those who enter data can do it directly on site. Thus, the work of those who collect information on accessibility becomes much easier and faster,” added another member of the implementation team, Vasile Savca.
According to the team, the platform is also a tool for promoting the rights of persons with disabilities in Moldova. “It is important for us that people know the real situation of the accessibility of buildings, and persons with different disabilities can anticipate the difficulties they may encounter. We also hope that the collected information will be an impetus for action for some authorities,” Vasile Savca said.
“It is a form of advocacy through which persons with disabilities claim their rights, and caring for our fellow citizens is one of the supreme values of a functioning democracy. There is no progress without respect for human rights,” concluded Victor Koroli, mentor of the “Equal Access for All” team. The hackaton was organized within the project “Building social cohesion in Moldova by promoting inclusion and diminishing discrimination”, carried out by the Independent Journalism Center as part of the program “Joint Initiative for Equal Opportunities – Phase II”, implemented with the support of the Government of Switzerland