Inclusive Framework for Indoor Accessibility in Low Resource Settings for Persons with Visual Disability

Abstract

The rising adoption of mobile technology in low resource countries like India has contributed significantly towards independent outdoor accessibility for all including persons with visual impairment (PVIs) through applications such as Google Maps, Lazarillo, Blind Square, and Soundscape, etc. In contrast to this, indoor accessibility is challenging for PVIs, mainly due to the uneven landscape of indoor maps with accessibility information, as well as accessible mediums to communicate them. This makes them continue to feel more dependent, less confident, and more insecure. The major contribution of this paper is to address the problem of indoor wayfinding and accessibility for PVIs to a certain extent. This work involved an eighteen-month-long system-level development including need assessment, design, implementation, and testing. The proposed system includes a custom web-based indoor mapping tool to create digital indoor maps and, an indoor accessibility application for the PVIs. We investigated the requirements and feasibility of indoor wayfinding and accessibility information in the context of low-resource countries. We deployed this system into three distinct venues including a hospital covering a total mapped indoor area of about 40000 square meters. Initial user feedback has clearly shown that the indoor maps and accessibility information have the potential for a significant improvement in indoor navigation and accessibility of these spaces with a low-cost intervention. Based on these understandings, we propose a step-by-step procedure to set up a digital map and localization infrastructure for indoor spaces and build accessibility applications around that. Our iterative implementation has proven to be an easy-to-scale mechanism in similar indoor spaces.