Amidst all the frustrations that come along with working in any big company, I’ve always found that meeting amazing people at Google is far & away the best part of working here. In the last year I’ve gotten to collaborate a bit with Sasha Blair-Goldensohn, a Google Maps engineer who’s using his own life experience of needing a wheelchair to help others navigate the world more easily. Check out his story:
[T]he more I shared with colleagues, the more I found people who wanted to help solve real-world access needs. Using “20 percent time”—time spent outside day-to-day job descriptions—my colleagues like Rio Akasaka and Dianna Hu pitched in and we launched wheelchair-friendly transit directions. That initial work has now led to a full-time team dedicated to accessibility on Maps.
Very cool. I pitched the exact same thing to a Ps dev a few weeks back. Would really like to have a historical record of the people involved in the evolution of tools for image creation/manipulation. A shame a few of my fave devs have already left the building though…
Nice! I’ve been the one behind the wheel chair for a few years. Please include places for wheelchair vans on your map.