February 8, 2026
Ramp up the drama
A11yJSON: A standard to describe the accessibility of the physical world
Internet debates a new map for ramps & elevators—overdue or overhyped
TLDR: A11yJSON organizes everyday accessibility info—ramps, elevators, restrooms, and policies—into a sharable format. Commenters split between praising a practical fix and scolding big web standards for not having this already, with extra heat over guide-dog rules and hype for real-time elevator status.
A11yJSON wants to tell us how accessible real-world places are, from entrances to elevators and even dog policies. Think simple, shareable info about ramps, bathrooms, and whether the elevator is working right now. The crowd is intrigued, but the comments quickly turned into a mini standards war.
Top take? robin_reala’s cool jab: Schema.org—the big web vocabulary—doesn’t have this, calling it a “curious admission.” Cue chorus: Is this years overdue, or finally done right? Some want it folded into existing web standards; others cheer that a Berlin non-profit, Sozialhelden (of Wheelmap.org), just built what people need.
Techies are into the promise of clear schemas and helpful error messages, which is nerd-speak for “it catches bad data before it ruins your day.” Meanwhile, a leetspeak burst from fabatka (“I l2e h1w a8e…”) became the meme of the thread—half the crowd laughed, half asked if humans can read that.
The spice: an example that flags “allowsGuideDogs: false” sparked outrage and reality-checks about policies that quietly block people. Real-time elevator status got cheers from commuters with strollers and wheelchairs. Verdict? A11yJSON looks useful, but the audience is split between “make it an official standard” and “ship it, iterate, and let the web catch up.”
Key Points
- •A11yJSON is an open standard based on GeoJSON (RFC 7946) for describing physical-world accessibility data.
- •It supports schemas for places, amenities (elevators, escalators, vending machines), sanitary facilities, services, policies, and real-time operational status of devices.
- •Documentation includes examples (cinema, canteen, elevator) and a list of accessibility criteria, plus an FAQ and projects using A11yJSON.
- •A TypeScript library enables compile-time checks; the @sozialhelden/a11yjson npm module provides runtime validation using SimpleSchema, input sanitization, and detailed error messages.
- •A11yJSON is created by Sozialhelden e.V., a Berlin-based nonprofit known for Wheelmap.org; its schema API is designed to be portable to GraphQL and JSON Schema.