Global Accessibility Awareness Day: Building Accessibility into Technology | Written by Ed Lovelock | Starship Technologies

As the world’s leading autonomous robotic delivery provider, one of our core missions is to make people’s lives easier and more convenient.

We passionately believe in the power of technology and innovation to positively impact people’s lives and communities. But we also know that accessibility and the needs of people with disabilities are too often overlooked in technology development.

We’re leading the charge in a completely new industry, so we know we won’t get everything right on the first try. But at Starship, a true two-way engagement around accessibility and accessibility needs is embedded in what we do, and we’re dedicated to building on what we’ve learned along the way.

Over the years, we’ve invested time and resources into improving our technology with accessibility in mind. For example, he incorporates autonomous recognition of mobility devices and wheelchairs into robot movements.

We like that we can hear the sound when the robot moves on the sidewalk, that the grocery aisle is at a height that most wheelchair users can reach (and that the products are packed in bags for easy handling). ) is important. We’ve teamed up with a leading visual impairment charity to ensure guide dogs and our robots can happily share the road. We also incorporate feedback from disabled customers, residents and charities into our engineering and design processes, making our work better with every trip and conversation.

But there is still work to be done.

That’s why today, on Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we’re proudly launching the Starship Accessibility Advisory Panel.

We are delighted to welcome representatives from the Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB), the University of Leeds and the health and welfare charity Leonard Cheshire on our panel, to help bring vital lived professional experience to the conversation across the organization. I’m glad.

This is a start, not an end point, and we want to ensure we have experiences, expressions and perspectives from people from different backgrounds and with different disabilities and abilities. Based on our current committee membership, we would especially like to hear more directly from people who use mobility devices or wheelchairs within the surgical area and/or who are neurodiverse. Masu. Please contact us at publicaffairs@starship.co.