Researched for accessible feature design for visually impaired
users, including sound beacons, direction animations, that were
compatible with phone accessibility settings.
Imagine yourself in a vast, unfamiliar indoor complex, enveloped
in complete darkness. How would you explore the space or find
your way to a specific location? Citygeni is an assessible
indoor map for Mapxus, designed browsing and navigation
experience for individuals with visual impairments.I conducted
research with participants across the visual impairment
spectrum, gaining insights on how spatial perception is formed
and used. Additionally, I contributed to the review of UI
design, ensuring insights are skilfully transformed into
functional features that bring the joy of exploration to
life.
During interviews with participants who are blind, our research
has uncovered a remarkable phenomenon - their extraordinary
prowess in other senses, particularly hearing and touch, which
they described as transformative experiences that reshaped their
perception.
These heightened senses become their tools for navigation and
spatial perception. For instance, they adeptly determine
building exits or entrances by feeling the direction of air and
wind on their face or body (although the compulsory use of masks
during the pandemic has made this more challenging). They rely
on the feedback from the knocks of their poles to gauge the
distance of potential obstacles. Tiles on the floor emerge as
the most reliable navigation cues, prompting blind individuals
to actively seek them out in indoor spaces.
In contrast, individuals with low vision, including those with
tunnel vision or severe nearsightedness, predominantly rely on
sight as their primary navigation tool. Surprisingly, none of
them use accessibility features such as Voice Over or Talkback.
When faced with unfamiliar indoor spaces, they still prefer to
view maps with the assistance of magnifiers, whether digital or
physical. Although vision remains their primary navigation tool,
they have specific preferences for the user interface and screen
display due to the challenges they face. For instance, they find
black text on a white background to have excessive contrast,
making reading more difficult and strenuous. They prefer a
minimum font size of around 16px for comfortable reading, among
other considerations.
Armed with these invaluable insights, we have successfully
translated them into our design approach, ensuring that our
product caters to the unique needs and preferences of
individuals who are completely blind or have low vision.
ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES
Providing effective navigation guidance to individuals who are
blind or have low vision presents significant challenges due to
the difficulties in accurately conveying spatial information
through limited words or sound cues. We have designed what we
call the "sound beacon", a sound guidance for visually impaired
users to follow during navigation.
For users with low vision, we have carefully designed the user
interface with a black background and yellow text. Although this
colour combination may have lower contrast, it remains readable,
ensuring effortless reading. We have set the smallest font size
to 16px to enhance legibility. Furthermore, we have minimised
the use of text for conveying important messages, including
navigation directions. Instead, we rely on large icons and
animations for clear communication. During navigation, we have
developed prominent direction animations that occupy a
significant portion of the screen. This empowers low vision
users to accurately interpret meanings, such as directions,
without relying solely on reading text.
By addressing these considerations in our design approach, we
aim to enhance navigation accessibility and provide a
user-friendly experience for individuals with visual
impairments.
LAUNCH
After half a year of dedicated effort and hard work, we proudly
released the indoor map app on both
Google Play
and the
App Store, ensuring accessibility to a wide range of users.
