Listen to this Article
Travel begins the moment you step out your front door or at least try to. For Nabeel Ramji, venturing out, especially into a new space has often required more planning than a cross-country flight. While others grab keys and go, he’s scouting locations like a secret agent. Not for fun but for survival. Why? Because Nabeel lives with cerebral palsy and navigating unfamiliar places with a power wheelchair isn’t charming, nor is it inspiring. It’s a daily game of access roulette. Will the door open? Will the elevator be wide enough? Will the accessible toilet actually be accessible, or is it just wishful thinking dressed up in blue signage?
Nabeel got tired of that woeful game. And like all good rebellions, his started with a quiet, burning “Why?” Why is this so hard? Why do I have to go scout buildings like some sort of accessibility reconnaissance team? Why is everyone acting surprised that I want independence and movement without a side of frustration?
And so, he built Pedesting, a slick, practical mobile app that lets you scope out the accessibility of buildings before you arrive. It’s smart, beautifully simple and very much needed. Part digital tool, part architectural conscience, Pedesting is the app that says: “You should know where you’re going before you go.
It’s not a cute app with vague promises. It’s hard data. Real maps. Floorplans. Photos. Doors, corridors, power buttons. The kind of details that matter when your ability to enter a space depends on more than enthusiasm. Pedesting lets users explore mapped-out interior floorplans of public spaces and major buildings. You want to know if there’s a power door opener? It’s in there. Curious if the elevator is wide enough? Covered. Need to avoid a set of stairs posing as a ramp in disguise? Handled.
It all started in Calgary, where Nabeel lives, but the dream was always bigger. First, Calgary’s connected office towers and skywalks, then universities and public libraries. Now, Pedesting is on the move, expanding to Vancouver and soon, beyond. Slowly, methodically, he’s making it easier for others to roll in the direction of their choosing.
And here’s what makes it profound: this did not come from a boardroom brainstorm or a tech incubator trying to disrupt accessibility. This is personal, lived and built out of necessity. It was born from years of navigating a world that’s often two steps behind when it comes to inclusion. For wheelchair users, you learn early on that many times, accessibility is more of a suggestion or promise than a guarantee. You never quite know if someone forgot to shovel the ramp, or if a ‘step-free entrance’ actually means four stairs and a prayer. So, you plan. And over-plan. And then plan again until spontaneity becomes a luxury.
That is what Pedesting is changing. It is bringing back a bit of that lost freedom, the kind that lets someone say, “Let’s grab a coffee,” and mean it, without having to call the café, check photos online, cross-reference with Google Street View and still arrive unsure.
The app is practical. Real people can update in real time. If an elevator breaks or a temporary construction wall appears that blocks an entrance, users can flag it. That’s community power! Users can share and report because accessibility is alive. It changes with every cone, sign, detour and oversight. And Pedesting works because Nabeel knows what matters. He’s not guessing, he lives it. Ramps that are too steep, grab bars that are on the wrong side, ‘accessible’ bathrooms in which you cannot turn around, he’s seen it all. Ask him what matters in an accessible hotel room and he’ll talk about the height of the bed. Too high and it’s a no-go. The width of a doorway? The swing of a bathroom door? All crucial. These aren’t design quirks. They decide whether you stay or leave.
Nabeel’s approach to travel is rooted in realism. He’s detailed. Very detailed. He’s experienced cities that claim to be progressive while quietly ignoring entire sections of the population. But he’s also discovered places trying hard to do better. Tokyo. Vancouver. Pockets of progress popping up like wildflowers after a stubborn winter. Still, we’re not there yet. If full-on freedom of movement is the destination, we’re somewhere around the 15% mark, by his count. Maybe less. But progress is happening. Slowly. And part of that is because people like Nabeel are no longer waiting for systems to catch up. They’re building their own because travel isn’t limited to planes, passports or pretty luggage. It starts the moment you leave your front door. And for many, that first threshold is the hardest. If you don’t know what’s out there, if stairs, broken elevators, blocked ramps, or narrow doorways are waiting to ambush you, then spontaneity dies before it begins.
To bring spontaneity to travelling wheelchair users, Pedesting consumes hours of mapping, floor plans, audits, updating, photography. It’s buildings with 50,000 square feet of space needing to be explored inch by inch. It’s bureaucracy, red tape, delays and buildings that ‘aren’t quite ready’, but if you ask Nabeel what fuels him you will realize that it’s not visibility, fame or even praise. It’s practicality. He wants wheelchair users to stop worrying about whether they can get through a door and start focusing on where they want to go. He wants the stress you carry when you’ve been burned too many times by inaccessible places to melt away.
Travel should be the daily act of moving freely, without fear, knowing you can meet a friend, attend an event, stay in a hotel or try a new restaurant without being greeted by inaccessibility and nonchalant shrugs from the staff. Thankfully, however, the world is slowly paying attention. More architects are listening and more buildings are being designed with different bodies in mind. But there’s still a gap. And Pedesting is there to fill it.
So, the next time you glide effortlessly into a building on your wheelchair, pause for a moment. The ease of that movement and the convenience of accessible amenities . . . it didn’t happen magically. Somewhere, someone mapped that path for you.
And chances are, his name is Nabeel Ramji.
Pedesting: https://pedesting.com/
Nabeel Ramji: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nramji/