Literature Reviews
Reviewed research papers, articles, and publications relevant to digital accessibility.
106 results found tagged wayfinding.
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"Just Let the Cane Hit It": How the Blind and Sighted See Navigation Differently
This paper reveals fundamental mismatches between how blind and sighted people understand pedestrian navigation, drawing on over a year of immersive qualitative research including focus groups, diary studies, and partner observations. The researchers…
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Headlock: A Wearable Navigation Aid that Helps Blind Cane Users Traverse Large Open Spaces
This paper presents HEADLOCK, a navigation aid for optical head-mounted displays (OHMDs) like Google Glass that helps blind cane users traverse large open spaces—environments that are particularly challenging because they lack the tactile features (w…
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Buildings and Users with Visual Impairment: Uncovering Factors for Accessibility Using BIT-Kit
This paper introduces BIT-Kit (Building Interactions Tool-kit), a mixed-method framework for gathering evidence about how buildings impact the accessibility of users with visual impairments. The framework combines three methods: semi-structured inter…
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Orienting Kinesthetically: A Haptic Handheld Wayfinder for People with Visual Impairments
This paper presents a novel haptic direction indicator that provides real-time navigational guidance through kinesthetic cues rather than audio or vibrotactile feedback. The device exploits a perceptual phenomenon called the "pseudo-attraction force …
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Mental Maps and the Use of Sensory Information by Blind and Partially Sighted People
This qualitative study addresses a significant gap in understanding how blind and partially sighted people form and use spatial representations (mental maps) during real-world travel. Through semi-structured interviews with 100 participants across fi…
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Use of an Indoor Navigation System by Sighted and Blind Travelers: Performance Similarities across Visual Status and Age
This study evaluates an indoor navigation system using commercial iOS devices and Bluetooth beacons to guide blind and visually impaired (BVI) travelers through complex university buildings. The research compared two navigation conditions: a system-a…
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O&M Indoor Virtual Environments for People Who Are Blind: A Systematic Literature Review
This systematic literature review examines virtual environments designed to support indoor orientation and mobility (O&M) training for people who are blind. The authors analyzed 51 papers describing 32 distinct O&M virtual environments, filtering fro…
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Towards Designing Mobile Apps for Independent Travel: Exploring Current Barriers and Opportunities for Supporting Young Adults with Down's Syndrome
This comprehensive study uses a three-cycle Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology to understand barriers to independent travel for young adults with Down's Syndrome (DS) and develop a smartphone app prototype to address them. The research i…
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Beyond the Cane: Describing Urban Scenes to Blind People for Mobility Tasks
This research investigates what environmental information is most useful for blind pedestrians navigating urban spaces, moving beyond obstacle-avoidance to understand comprehensive scene description needs. The authors conducted two experiments with 1…
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Route Descriptions, Spatial Knowledge and Spatial Representations of Blind and Partially Sighted People: Improved Design of Electronic Travel Aids
This paper presents a qualitative study investigating how blind and partially sighted people acquire spatial knowledge, form mental maps, and describe routes—with the goal of informing better design of electronic travel aids (ETAs). The researchers w…