Step by step: Exploring accessibility perceptions of older adults and young families outside urban cores through walk-along interviews

• Walk-along interviews uncover hidden accessibility barriers in rural areas • Social context shapes the experience and perception of accessibility • Facility closures hit elderly hard—loss of shops means loss of social life • Safety and time budget over distance shape families' perceived active mode accessibility • Prams face same route barriers as wheelchairs: curbs, uneven paths, traffic • Some rural residents trade facility access for quiet and spacious neighbourhood • Social taxis valued by elderly for being accessible and affordable This paper examines the mechanisms shaping accessibility perceptions among older adults and young families living in Dutch rural areas, using the innovative walk-along interview method. The findings indicate that accessibility perceptions of these vulnerable groups are partly shaped by their residential preferences, with some participants deliberately choosing to live in areas with fewer facilities. Moreover, the walk-along method effectively identified barriers to accessing desired activity locations, revealing not only physical challenges related to micro-scale built-environment features such as uneven sidewalks, street furniture, or barriers on the paths but also a significant role of one’s social context in enabling as well as constraining accessibility. Additionally, the interviews highlighted social and symbolic values attached to facilities, often overlooked in traditional accessibility metrics. These insights emphasize the value of complementing spatial accessibility assessments with an understanding of accessibility perceptions using qualitative methods and can be instrumental in tailoring local policies to the accessibility-related challenges for vulnerable groups.