We at Moovit firmly believe that mobility is a basic human right for everyone. This belief was echoed just last week in a publication released by Microsoft’s Transform, entitled “ How Moovit improved its app to help people with disabilities ride transit with confidence — as well as in a Fireside Chat, including Moovit & Bank of America, at the opening of Microsoft’s renowned Ability Summit. “Our mission is to simplify urban mobility and make it accessible, because mobility is really a basic human right,” says Yovav Meydad, Moovit Chief Growth and Marketing Officer. “Efficient mobility opens a lot of opportunities for employment, education and a better life, and we want to help all users make their journey as easy as possible.”

Moovit & Accessibility

The write-up — and Fireside chat — highlight the extensive work and breakthrough progress that Moovit has achieved in the realm of accessibility. For Moovit, this means not only helping rural residents reach cities for work and school, but also helping people with disabilities travel. The company’s heartfelt accessibility work began in 2015, when Meydad met a group of people who are blind or low-vision to see how they used our app. Since then, accessibility modes, including comprehensive VoiceOver / TalkBack support for the visually impaired, which provides clear voice instructions for all the app screens as well as “Get off alerts” have been incorporated. This further includes the highly-acclaimed inclusion of accessibility-friendly routes in which Moovit identified wheelchair-accessible stations throughout thousands of cities around the globe. The feature successfully shows only routes with stations with ramps and elevators.

This notion is further highlighted by the creation of a private-label app, titled “Discover My Route”, for Community Living Toronto, a source of support for thousands of individuals with an intellectual disability searching for accessible and meaningful ways to live in the community. The app provides trip planning, real-time arrival information, and GPS-style step-by-step directions including “Get Off Notifications” that let the rider know when their stop is coming. Customized to meet each person’s needs, this app enables people with an intellectual or Developmental disability (IDD) to take transit with greater ease and confidence.

Microsoft’s 9th Annual Ability Summit

Moovit’s Chief Growth & Marketing Officer shares a moment with Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Microsoft Chief Accessibility Officer, before taking the stage for a Fireside Chat.

Microsoft’s Ability Summit event in Redmond, WA is an event that brings together the Microsoft disability community, including employees with disabilities, allies, parents, friends, engineers, designers, and other accessibility professionals from every organization across our company.  This event provides opportunities for learning, networking, and leadership engagement.

For Moovit to be featured in such an exclusive — yet, inclusive — event is an honor. Meydad was invited by Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Business, and who led the Fireside Chat. Moovit and Microsoft are currently partnering (link to blog) to integrate Moovit’s public transit information into Azure Maps in order to help developers build rich location-aware apps for billions of commuters around the world. Along with Microsoft, we look forward to accessibility playing a role in digital transformation and beyond.

Microsoft is committed to accessibility, including the provision of water bowls for all the service animals in attendance.

See you next year at Ability Summit!