Queen’s Equity Locator app marks spots on campus to help users find equity and human rights related resources on campus.
Released in 2018, the app was developed by the Human Rights and Equity Office (HREO) to give visitors, students, faculty, and staff access to resources available on campus. Queen’s University Tours endorsed the app on Instagram, which they called an “incredible” resource.
The app is available to download on any iOS device. The Equity Locator has maps of the University’s main and west campuses, and the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, according to a press release at the launch.
The points of interest marked on the map include both amenities and safety basics such as emergency exits, security lamps, phones, breastfeeding stations, gender-neutral washrooms, and accessible entrances.
The app uses GPS tracking to find what resources and facilities are near them and can add unmarked resources they find to the map.
“[The app] began as an effort to map gender-neutral washrooms on campus, and we are pleased with the end result which will serve many within our community,” Jill Christie, a manager at the Equity and Human Rights Office, said in the press release.
The HREO joined forces with university partners—students, Department of Student Affairs (DSA), Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre, and Accessibility Services—to “populate” the map with points.
“The great thing about the equity locator app is that everyone can contribute,” Christie said in a statement to The Journal.
“It can be difficult to keep useful resources up to date and the Queen’s Equity Locator enables everyone to contribute by creating equity and human rights related points of interest that are shared with everyone else.”
Users of the app can provide feedback to authenticate the accuracy of points, create new points, or provide feedback.
The app self-sufficiently updates with new pins when users engage with the feedback function, according to Christie.
“Our ultimate goal was to try to build a database that is useful for everyone.”
Tags
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.
