StepGuard: check any A-to-B route for steps, slopes and obstacles

StepGuard is a wheelchair friendly route planner that does not assume the pavement is fine. You enter a start point and a destination on the map, and StepGuard shows you a walking route with every step, steep slope, raised kerb, obstacle and construction site that has been recorded along it.

It is made for anyone who cannot afford to discover a barrier halfway: wheelchair users, parents pushing strollers, delivery workers carrying loads, and older pedestrians who want to know before they set out that a route is manageable.

Try the route checker How it works

The tool runs entirely in your browser

StepGuard uses two public, free data services — OpenStreetMap and OSRM — plus reports submitted by other users. It does not track you, and it does not require an account.

How it works

StepGuard breaks an A-to-B journey into three steps.

  1. You enter a start point and a destination.
  2. StepGuard calculates a walking route between them using OSRM, an open-source routing engine that is designed to run on OpenStreetMap data.
  3. StepGuard scans a 15-metre buffer along that route using the Overpass API, a read-only interface that serves selected parts of OpenStreetMap data. It looks for the tags mappers use to record pedestrian barriers, and flags what it finds on a list you can tap through.

What the scan checks

  • Steps and staircases. Steps are mapped in OpenStreetMap as highway=steps, with the step_count tag recording how many there are. Any mapped steps on the route are flagged.
  • Steep slopes. The incline tag records how steep a slope is, either as a percentage or in degrees. StepGuard flags sections whose incline is steep enough to be a problem for a wheelchair or a loaded stroller.
  • Kerbs. The kerb tag records the type of kerb where a footway meets a road, including lowered kerbs designed for wheelchair access. A crossing with a raised kerb and no lowered section is flagged.
  • Construction. OpenStreetMap mappers record active construction sites with construction tagging. StepGuard flags mapped construction work that can close a path or turn it into a rough detour.

Being honest about the data

These are the limits, stated plainly:

  • OpenStreetMap is built and maintained by volunteers. Coverage and freshness vary from street to street, from town to town. Quiet areas are mapped less thoroughly than busy ones, and some tags are old.
  • OSRM's standard walking profile routes you along walkable streets and paths, but it does not understand accessibility tags such as wheelchair, kerb or incline. That is why StepGuard runs its own separate check along the route.
  • A flag is not a verdict. A mapped step may have a ramp beside it; an unmapped stretch may hide a step. The absence of a flag only means no one has recorded a barrier there — not that there is none.
  • Construction and weather change the ground faster than any map can be updated. A route that was clear yesterday can be closed today.

The user-report layer exists for exactly these gaps.

One-tap crowd reporting

OpenStreetMap is the best free map of its kind in the world, but it is a map, not today's report from the street. That is why StepGuard also carries its own layer of crowd-sourced observations.

When you are out and encounter a problem — or when you notice a barrier is gone — tap the spot on the map and make a one-tap report:

  • Step
  • Slope
  • Kerb
  • Obstacle
  • Construction

You can add a short, optional note (for example, "three steps, no handrail" or "path closed since Tuesday"). Your report is then shown to other users as part of the crowd data for that route.

Reports are observational. They are what one person saw at one moment, submitted as-is without an inspection team or a full verification process. They can be wrong, and they can be stale — construction finishes, snow clears, a temporary ramp is removed. When several recent reports describe the same spot, that is strong signal; a single old report is a hint worth checking, not a fact. This is the honest trade-off that makes a crowdsourced access map possible.

Who StepGuard is for

Wheelchair users

The core question for a wheelchair user planning any journey is whether the route is physically passable: no steps, no slopes too steep to manage (with or without assistance), no raised kerbs without a lowered crossing. StepGuard surfaces exactly these mapped barriers before you leave.

Parents with strollers

For parents with strollers, StepGuard works as a stroller path obstacle checker. A staircase-free route is rarely the same as a stroller-friendly one: a single raised kerb, a cracked step or a steep ramp can mean lifting a loaded stroller or turning around with a sleeping toddler.

Delivery workers

Foot couriers and delivery workers cover routes all day, often carrying weight. Knowing in advance where steps, steep ramps and construction sites sit saves both time and strain, and makes it easier to plan a route that avoids repeated lifting.

Elderly pedestrians

Confidence before setting out matters when a staircase is genuinely difficult and a fall is a real risk. Older pedestrians can use StepGuard to check that a route has gentle slopes, no surprises at crossings, and resting options along the way.

Route checker and accessibility map

Enter a start and destination to see a walking route with hazards highlighted.

Plan your route

Tip: You can type a location or tap on the map to set the start point
Tip: You can type a location or tap on the map to set the destination
Loading route...

See a problem?

Tap anywhere on the map to report a step, slope, kerb, obstacle, or construction. Reports are observational and unverified — use them as hints, not facts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is StepGuard a medical or safety guarantee?
No. StepGuard is advisory: it points out what has been recorded about a route, and it can get things wrong, miss things, or show you data that is out of date. Nothing in the tool is a medical assessment of your ability, a safety certification of a route, or a substitute for your own judgment. The disclaimer at the end of this page is part of the product.
How current is the data?
As current as the people who maintain it. OpenStreetMap is updated continuously by its volunteer community, and StepGuard's crowd reports are added in real time by users. But freshness varies by area: an actively mapped city centre may be updated within days, while a quiet rural lane may hold data that is years old. Construction work and temporary changes are the most likely things to be missing or stale. If a route matters, check it again close to the time you leave.
How do I report a problem?
Tap the spot on the map and choose the type from the one-tap menu: step, slope, kerb, obstacle or construction. Add an optional short note if you want the report to be more useful, and submit. No account is needed. Reports appear immediately as user-submitted observations.
Are user reports checked before they appear?
No. Reports are shown as submitted, and no staff team inspects them individually. That is the point — they are observations from people on the street, which makes them fast and local — and it is also their weakness. Treat any single report as one person's snapshot in time, and prefer spots with several recent reports when making decisions that matter.
Does StepGuard work worldwide?
Wherever OpenStreetMap has mapped pedestrian data — which is global, but uneven. OSM covers the whole world, but the detail on the ground varies enormously: dense cities and actively mapped regions have rich data on steps, kerbs and slopes, while sparsely mapped areas may show a route with few or no flags. In those areas, "no data" does not mean "no barriers", and crowd reports become relatively more valuable.
What about weather, lighting and time of day?
StepGuard has no live weather data. Ice, snow, mud, floodwater and poor lighting are not part of the analysis, and they can change a route's difficulty faster than any report can follow. Rain can flood a dropped kerb crossing; snow can hide a step; a clear path can become a mudslide after a storm. Check current conditions yourself when the weather is a factor in your ability to get through.

Important disclaimer

Disclaimer: Route analysis and accessibility ratings provided by StepGuard are advisory only. Map data, user-submitted reports, and automated route analysis may be incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate. Always verify critical physical access needs independently before relying on any route.