Covid Safe

Before heading out, check a location to see how Covid-Safe it is!

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Inspiration

We were inspired by the current global pandemic that has been affecting our lives and living situations. We especially wanted to support those most vulnerable to the virus by helping them know if a destination is safe to visit during these uncertain times. One of our members is part of this high-risk community, and believes that this will immensely help as she considers starting to go out, and that it will help relieve the stress of being unaware while in public. With COVID-19 cases increasing, we wanted to create a website to help expand public safety and awareness.

What it does

After searching a specific location, the website displays user reviews and ratings on how Covid-Safe a location is, as well as if there are currently a lot of people there. If the location has a Covid Safe rating below three, or someone with Covid has been there in the last two weeks, the website triggers a pop-up alert. It also displays the map of the location for easy access to directions. We also included a popular places tab, which currently just consists of hyperlinks to different websites (please read "What's next for Covid Safe to see how this will change).

How we built it

We collaborated on Replit, using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. We referred to W3Schools for guidance on these programming languages.

Challenges we ran into

A challenge we ran into was trying to incorporate a functioning Google API. Since we were unable to obtain the credits needed to purchase the Google Map API (even after contacting the emails listed on the Google Form, who unfortunately have not responded yet), we inserted an image as a mock-up replacement of the API in order to show what its function would be. (Please see our code file index.html line 87 through 93 for more information on our API challenges). Another challenge was that half of our team had never done web development before, while the other half had limited experience. As some of us were busy and some were learning the basics, it was hard to get our project started. However, we eventually were able to meet, create a plan, and help one another.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of implementing our own version of a vertical side menu that functions the way we had envisioned. Secondly, we are proud that the website takes user input even if the output is hardcoded results. Finally, as most of us were not very familiar with web development, we are pleased that we mastered the basics.

What we learned

During this hackathon, we learned that communication is key, especially when we are on a time crunch and have to produce an end result. Though we may have had some differences in ideas, we worked to compromise and form a solution. We also learned how to utilize Replit and research and implement code without any prior knowledge. Although we were unable to use the Google Maps API, we learned how one would use an API, which was something that no one on our team had done before.

What's next for Covid Safe

Next, we plan to integrate the Google Map API as we hoped in order to utilize their extensive data collection. With this data, we would be able to provide information about any location as well as their busiest hours to alert users of greater COVID risk. Of course, we do not want the information on how Covid Safe a location is to be hardcoded, as that would be nearly impossible. It would also be great to find real-time data of Covid tracking, in able to alert the users of greater risk. We also want to improve the aesthetics of our site, given the fact that most of us had little to no experience with CSS and were working with limited time. Another goal of ours, is to utilize the Popular Places tab as a place where users can scroll through to see some of the top-searched locations in their area, along with their Covid Rating out of 5. These location postings will be clickable, and expand to contain more information once clicked on. Lastly, we would like to allow for user reviews, which would influence the safety rating of that location.

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