Public and Collaborative Services (Fall 2025)
Beyond the Booth
Toward an Expanded Civic Geography of Accessibility
Yeon-Joo Kang
Prajakta Gholap
Ian MacPherson
Ziqi Cheng
Research Focus
How do people experience accessibility on their way to vote?
Sub-questions
● Who is included or excluded in the voting process?
● How do physical, social, and sensory barriers affect participation?
● Is accessibility something people associate with voting?
● What does “accessible democracy” mean in everyday movement?
Fieldwork Sites
Primary Field: Greenwich Village, New York City
Additional
Routes
● Sunnyside, Queens – Yeon-Joo
● Jersey City – Kiki and Prajakta
● Bushwick, Brooklyn – Ian
Each participant documents their route from home to the polling site, focusing on landscape, signage, and soundscape observations.
Fieldwork Sites
Why Greenwich Village
Methods
Preliminary Approach: Auto-ethnography and sensory fieldwork
Methods
● Walking observation (video and photography)
● Soundscape recording at polling site entrances
● Spatial mapping of routes (Google Maps or hand sketches)
● Reflective field notes and accessibility annotations
● Informal interviews or conversations if possible
Supporting Materials
● Shooting list and fieldwork inventory
● Audio recording checklist (soundscape protocol)
● Observation templates
● Sketches and visual mapping drafts
● Additional References
● vote.nyc/wait-time-map
● vote.nyc/find-your-poll-site
Progress
Field site selected
Shooting list and route planning
Contact emails sent (SDS, Met
Accessibility, Seeing Eye NYC)
Initial sketches and sound tests completed
Auto-ethnography conducted
Next Steps
Mapping platform planning
Synthesize sensory data (audio, video, mapping)
Draft visual and written synthesis
Prepare materials for next week’s blueprinting exercise
Photos & Videos
Reflection and Goals
Focus
Understanding voting as both a physical and emotional journey through urban space.
Goal
To create a multi-sensory narrative and accessibility map that reveal how democratic participation intersects with everyday mobility.
Thank You!
Beyond the Booth: Toward an Expanded Civic
Geography of Accessibility
