Mobilizing Community Members
After its introduction on November 1, 2024, the French Quarter Accessibility Project began mobilizing community members to collect accessibility data ahead of the Super Bowl.
New Orleans & Company is working with Make Good, the University of New Orleans and Roll Mobility on ensuring that both residents and visitors can enjoy an all-inclusive experience. The purpose of this project is to map all the businesses in the French Quarter for accessibility and use the data to work with business owners to improve areas for travelers with disabilities. Everyone is encouraged to download the Roll Mobility app in the app store and start surveying the city's most iconic area. Each participant will automatically be entered into the leaderboard.
Mapping Accessibility
Roll Mobility is providing the high-tech capability to create the map, while MakeGood and AbleWatch are providing accessibility recommendations with academic partners initiating their students to participate. Make Good is offering a $1,000 reward to the individual who produces the most access reviews on the Roll Mobility app during the project's run. Additional prizes include New Orleans Pelicans tickets, two 3D printers, and local restaurant gift cards. This approach is just the beginning; with the French Quarter serving as a catalyst for a more accessible and inclusive Greater New Orleans area, more neighborhoods have been identified for future accessibility reviews.
This partnership is in incorporation to the considerable efforts of New Orleans & Company who continue to work on the accessibility space of the French Quarter and other areas. A number of the resources include New Orleans & Company's Wheel the World partnership announced in mid-November, Recite Me web accessibility on neworleans.com, the neworleans.com/plan/accessibility webpage, and the recently completed French Quarter accessibility survey with the Department of Public Works.
The French Quarter Accessibility Project invites local advocates, students, healthcare professionals, and consumers to utilize the Roll Mobility app to document accessible features in French Quarter establishments.
About The Partners
New Orleans & CompanyFounded in 1960, New Orleans & Company's mission is to inspire, promote, and encourage travel to the city for the benefit of the social and economic elements, as well as the communities, of New Orleans and its residents. New Orleans & Company is the official destination sales and marketing organization for New Orleans' tourism industry. Their vision is to ensure New Orleans remains the most remarkable, unique, and welcoming city in the world. For more information, visit neworleans.com or on social media @VisitNewOrleans or @Neworleansandco.
Roll Mobility
Roll Mobility is a community-driven accessibility tool designed to make life easier for people who have motility issues. The app provides reliable information on the accessibility of restaurants, public spaces, businesses, trails, and parking spaces. For more information, visit rollmobility.com.
MakeGood
MakeGood is a New Orleans-based collective of creators, designers, caretakers, innovators, and more, dedicated to pushing the bounds of design in the field of adaptive technology and solving problems in the built environment to create a more accessible world. For more information, visit makegood.design.
AbleWatch
AbleWatch is a nonprofit initiative born from the lived experience of Scott, who became paralyzed and soon realized that many spaces and environments in our society are not designed to accommodate people with mobility challenges. This exclusion not only limits access but isolates individuals with mobility challenges from fully participating in society. AbleWatch was created as a response to this necessity with a mission to raise awareness and advocate for greater access, inclusion, and accessibility for disabled people across the United States. For more information, visit ablewatch.org.
The Beach at UNO
The Beach at UNO is a vibrant community where academia, government, and entrepreneurial endeavors come together to maximize life-changing solutions and build shared prosperity for our city. The Beach is the only research park in the region. For more information, visit thebeachuno.org.
