Towards More Universal Wayfinding Technologies: Navigation Preferences Across Disabilities

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Accessibility researchers have been studying wayfinding technologies for people with disabilities for decades, typically focusing on solutions within disability populations — for example, technologies to support blind navigation. Yet, we know little about wayfinding needs across disabilities. In this paper, we describe a qualitative interview study examining the urban navigational experiences of 27 people who identified as older adults and/or who had cognitive, visual, hearing, and/or mobility disabilities. We found that many navigation route preferences were shared across disabilities (e.g., desire to avoid carpeted areas), while others diverged or were in tension (e.g., the need to avoid noisy areas while staying near main thoroughfares). To support design for multiple disability groups, we identify four dimensions of navigation preferences — technology, route, assistance, experience — and describe how these might usefully inform design of more universally usable wayfinding technologies.