This Malaysian Wants To Make KL Accessible For People With Disabilities & Needs Your Help

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Along with two friends, Armani is seeking help to launch IncluCity, an app that would crowdsource locations that are disabled-friendly, accessible, and safe.

Speaking to SAYS, Armani said cheekily, "I tell everyone that Izzati, my sister, is my boss, since this all started with her." Izzati is an artist, who is also autistic and has Down syndrome.

With a background in the arts and events industry, Armani launched NakSeni during lockdown to gain income for Izzati and her friends, as nobody was able to host events and pop-ups during that time. NakSeni promotes and sells the artworks of people with disabilities, as well as organising events and meet-ups for the community.

"Before the lockdown, we used to host a big event every December on International Day of Disabled Persons, where we invite artists from various disabled communities to celebrate and showcase their talents at WE & I Artfest.

"One of the toughest challenges we had was identifying a suitable venue that can cater to all. It got to a point where we had to make a place accessible by adding ramps, which then inspired the venue to continue providing accessibility to PWD attendees," Armani explains.

"I was in KL recently with my friend Miza, who is a wheelchair-user, we had the most difficult time trying to just cross the street to find a place to eat. It was an unpleasant experience for us. We were triggered and all the stories of her (unnecessary) struggles came out," says Armani.

Together with Armani's friend, Nurul, the women discussed and vented the struggles that PWD face on an everyday basis.

"That was the start of us co-founding IncluCity. We met up with some PWD youths and ran excursions to validate the idea and now we are working towards building it for the public," explains Armani.

IncluCity by NakSeni is an inclusive crowdsourced map for accessible, safe venues and spaces.

Armani, Nurul, and Miza hope that by raising awareness, increasing accessibility will not only benefit the PWD community, but also senior citizens, families with small children, and those who may have temporary or situational disabilities.

The idea is to allow the public to share their information on places and locations that are accessible to people with physical disabilities. That way, it's easier and safer for people to visit places that can cater to their needs, cutting out the frustration that often comes with trying to enter an establishment that has no facilities to accommodate mobility aids such as a wheelchair.

Many business owners lack exposure and awareness of the struggles the PWD community faces, and may not even realise the importance of making their venues accessible.

As a result, both businesses and the PWD community lose out. Businesses miss the opportunity to cater to new customers, as well as hiring people with disabilities. Meanwhile, people with disabilities are unable to even enter many places, venues, restaurants, shops, and so forth.

1. Create a map of accessible venues and spaces

With IncluCity, users can easily get current and verified information on how safe and accessible a venue is, so they can travel independently with confidence.

2. Include accessibility ratings per listed venue

The rating system in their database helps businesses learn more about how to better accommodate for the PWD community.

3. Add a list of resources

The list will provide access to educational articles and tools for the public, as well as a list of PWD-friendly businesses and partners. This way, everyone can learn more together.

"I was inspired by the Unlimited Fest in UK where they had not only catered to wheelchair-users but even the deaf community, with live audio-captioning using stenographers," Armani tells SAYS.

"We even practised descriptive introductions to include the blind community as well. I know Malaysia has the capabilities to do things like this because we already have corporates and private companies providing it, but it is not enough. It needs to be normalised," she adds.

IncluCity has been shortlisted as one of the eight finalists for Think City's Creative KL Urban Challenge. If they win, they'll receive funding to build the platform.

This is your chance to help create a more accessible and inclusive Kuala Lumpur! Click here to vote for IncluCity now.

When asked what an accessible Malaysia looks like to her, Armani replied, "I would love for Malaysia to normalise inclusivity by normalising sign language in schools, better infrastructure in our public transport and spaces, there's so much we can do but it all boils down to the mentality of the public."

"Usually, the people I meet who can relate to our initiatives, either has a family member or friend who is in the PWD community, or is PWD themselves. Anyone else outside that circle not exposed to the PWD community will usually look awkward and try to hide it when I talk about PWDs," she adds.

"The ones who emphatise, will want to learn and get to know more, but the ones who have fear tend to run away and avoid acknowledging it as if it's contagious or something. This is exactly why we host excursions and activities for the public to mingle with our community," Armani concludes. 

If you're interested to collaborate or support IncluCity, fill up the form via the same link and click on "Support Project".

To stay updated on future events, follow @naksenidotcom & @inclucity.my on Instagram!