Ramps, staircases and kerbs are everyday features that most people would find unremarkable, as their presence or absence does not affect the journey or path taken. However, wheelchair users need to pay attention to these features and plan every journey around them, as even a tiny step off a kerb could be a major hurdle that prevents them from getting to their destination.

The Straits Times wanted to capture the accessibility challenges others might not realise wheelchair users face, and present them in a unique way that would allow readers to experience these issues from the perspective of a wheelchair user.

The article, which the team worked on from the start of 2024, was published on Oct 11 and follows the journey of 31-year-old Alister Ong, who has cerebral palsy, from Novena MRT to Suntec City mall. Read the interactive here.

ST digital graphics journalist and project lead for this piece Hannah Ong shares the process of putting it together.

Why did the team decide to use the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses?

Our team has always been interested in emerging technologies, and when the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses were released, we thought they would be a great fit with this project. We wanted our readers to get a vivid sense of what it’s like being Alister and travelling around using a wheelchair, and the Ray-Bans, which can record videos and show what Alister sees, were what we needed for the job.

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that we used for this project.

The Ray-Bans are voice-activated, so Alister was able to easily control when to start and stop filming.

Alister said the Ray-Bans were something he had been interested in trying out because he could easily use them with just his voice, leaving his hands free to navigate his wheelchair, unlike when he uses his phone to take a photo or record a video.

What challenges did the team face when using them?

As the Ray-Bans were rather new at the time, we had to buy them from Australia. Additionally, Alister needs prescription lenses, so we had to find a local optometrist who could replace the lenses on the Ray-Bans with prescribed ones.

It was also noteworthy that the optometrist’s clinic was not very accessible, making it difficult for Alister to do his eye test – a key reason he had not changed his glasses in nearly a decade.

Alister getting an eye test in an optometrist’s clinic.

The Ray-Bans had a few limitations, namely having a maximum recording time of only three minutes and a short battery life. We had to do a bit of planning to work around these issues, but thankfully it all turned out well.

Was the outcome what the team expected? How did the footage from the glasses complement the story?

The outcome was better than what we expected. Alister is an engaging speaker who was able to talk at length about details that a person without any physical disability would not necessarily take note of in a train station or on the pavement.

We asked him to literally point these things out, and this worked best using the Ray-Bans to film – you feel like you’re really seeing things from his point of view.

The footage from the Ray-Bans allows readers to experience Alister’s journey from his point of view.

With the help of our video team, we filmed with two other cameras as well as a 360-degree camera to have a full view of what Alister’s experience was like navigating the train stations.

Having footage filmed from multiple angles – especially footage captured from Alister’s point of view – visually reminds readers that while it might appear easy for wheelchair users to navigate certain obstacles, it might not actually be the case.

We used multiple cameras to capture various points of views.

How did the team come up with the visual aspect of this piece? What did the team want to show? What strategies did the team use to make this piece more engaging to readers?

The whole idea behind the project was to make the experience personal and specific, allowing readers to feel like they are on this journey with Alister.

While his experience unfortunately cannot capture the experience of every single wheelchair user in Singapore, we wanted to highlight at least one such perspective, and include additional information about his journey to give a more holistic view of this topic.

For instance, we got in touch with Judy Wee, who is the founder of LevelField Consultants, an organisation that offers consulting and auditing services on accessibility of built environments, alongside other accessibility advocacy endeavours. Judy, who uses both manual and motorised wheelchairs, pointed out additional accessibility issues where relevant.

We also referenced the Code on Accessibility in the Built Environment to highlight the guidelines that have to be followed to ensure accessibility for all.

We included this information in a sidebar.

We used the sidebar to give additional information on Alister’s experience.

We also incorporated maps in the piece as they allow readers to visualise Alister’s journey, especially where he had to make detours along his route.

We did so in the form of motion graphics in the videos.

We included maps in the videos using motion graphics created in Adobe After Effects.

What were some obstacles the team faced along the way?

Choosing a route to film was difficult because we had so many options. Eventually, we decided on the Novena > Suntec City route for two reasons.

First, we wanted to highlight the considerations a wheelchair user would have when it came to choosing between different routes to get to a destination. When deciding how to get to Suntec City from Novena, Alister chose a route that let him avoid having to change lines. The other route would have required him to find and take lifts to get between different platforms at Dhoby Ghaut interchange, which can be inconvenient for him.

Explaining why Alister would prefer one route over another.

Second, we wanted to highlight the pros and cons for a wheelchair user when it came to choosing to go underground or overground from City Hall station to Suntec City.

One of the accessible lifts in Raffles City in the underground route. The team decided to show the overground route instead.

We faced problems getting permits to film in the MRT trains and stations. It was a long process as there were many security concerns.

Another complication was the fact that our filming dates coincided with preparation for the F1 race. The overground route changed multiple times due to the various road closures.

Informing Alister that the route would have to be changed.
Informing Alister again that there were new changes to the route.

In the end, the various changes turned out to be a good opportunity to highlight the reality of being a wheelchair user: No matter how much you research beforehand, you might still encounter unexpected changes to a route, forcing you to find different paths.

What were some memorable moments during the shoot?

The most memorable moment was finding out on the day of the shoot that the overground route had to be changed yet again due to F1 preparations, even after we had already done two previous recces in the four days prior.

This last change meant that Alister had to cross three pedestrian crossings in order to get to Suntec City instead of one, but thankfully, he did not bat an eye.

Alister had to make various detours due to road closures for F1.

How was the entire experience of seeing this project from start to finish for the team?

This project changed a lot from when we first started working on it. We had so many ideas of how we could tell a story about physical accessibility in Singapore.

In the end, we chose to tell a simple one about a wheelchair user wanting to go from point A to point B, and captured and created visuals to help support that.

We’re thankful that Alister was so generous with his time and knowledge – I’ve learnt and experienced so much just from exploring and navigating various areas with him and the team.

The video and interactive teams directing Alister during the shoot, captured on the 360-degree camera.

And personally, while I was producing and publishing this project, I felt it was a pity that I couldn’t include all the information that I thought was important to highlight – there’s still so much more to discuss regarding physical accessibility and universal design both in this country and globally.

What we’ve covered this time round is only a small part of it, but I hope it serves as a starting point to raise awareness about physical accessibility in Singapore.