Jooay, an app that helps children with disabilities find leisure activities

Laura Hurtado on 22 May 2024

Free app that connects leisure activity offerings with families of children with disabilities

Leisure and sports are vital for the development, health, and well-being of children with disabilities, but families often struggle to find activity programs that meet their needs. Additionally, many recreational offerings are not accessible to this group.

Jooay is a free app that helps children with disabilities and their families find nearby, accessible, and suitable leisure opportunities that meet their needs and preferences. The platform also helps parents, professionals, and educators connect, exchange experiences, and learn from one another.

To reach as many families as possible, the team of researchers, developers, and collaborators participate in various research projects. The team of Dr. Keiko Shikako, co-creator of Jooay, has studied what makes communities inclusive and has published the Child Community Health Inclusive Index. They have also examined how the development and design of inclusive technologies can help young people with various disabilities improve their health outcomes.

Characteristics of innovation

User empowerment, Childhood, Disability, Families and upbringing, Fully inclusive cities, Information and planning, New service

Localization

Canada

Partners / Funders

Childhood Disability Link, CHILD-BRIGHT network, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, The Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation/Operation Enfant Soleil, Telus Friendly Future Foundation, Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Réadaptation du Mont´real Metropolitain

Genesis

In 2016, after noticing the lack of support and leisure activity offerings for families with children with disabilities, Dr. Shikako decided to create an app that would provide easy access to proposals specifically designed for these children. Jooay started in Quebec and expanded to five other provinces in Canada.

Two years later, the team launched a second version of the app with the support of the CHILD-BRIGHT network. From the early stages of Jooay, parents, youth, and families have been part of the core research team.

Level of implementation

Jooay provides information on nearly 4,000 activities in all provinces and territories of Canada. In 2019, Canadian political representatives cited Jooay at the United Nations Conference on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as one of the country’s most relevant actions to advance towards inclusive societies.

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NaviLens, a code system that guides individuals with visual impairments in public spaces

Laura Hurtado on 24 April 2024

A code system with relevant information about public spaces to increase the autonomy of people with visual impairments

Individuals with visual impairments face difficulties in performing everyday tasks, such as locating restrooms, recognizing which bus is in front of them, or reading a street sign. To address this issue, NaviLens has been created, a system of labels with codes, similar to barcodes or QR codes, that provides useful information to facilitate the mobility of people with visual impairments in public spaces.

To read the information contained in the signs, all that is needed is to download an application and move the mobile device around the area where the code is located. Without the need to approach closely, NaviLens labels can be read from a distance, while in motion, and with the camera unfocused. These are some of the main differences compared to QR codes, which are of little use to people with visual impairments as they require proximity to be interpreted with a mobile device. This implies that users must know beforehand where they are located.

Once the code is detected, a “click” is heard, and the application vocalizes the information. For example, the stop number where the user is located, the transportation schedule, the position relative to the space, etc. It can also be used in cultural events such as museums or exhibitions, with informative labels about the route or artistic works.

Additionally, some product brands are using NaviLens on the labels of their items to provide information about the components or usage. The application also allows for the identification of personal use objects, as the codes can be printed and stuck onto any surface.