Clustering the Mobility Needs of Persons with Visual Impairment or Legal Blindness

Abstract

An important goal on the way to an inclusive society is to achieve a self-determined and independent daily life for persons with vision impairment or legal blindness. Mobility research for this target group mainly focuses on technological (assistive) devices, navigation, and routing tools. Less attention is paid to mobility behavior, mobility needs and prerequisites such as obstacles and barriers, orientation features and landmarks, and daily routine information. However, these aspects are essential for the design and implementation of supporting software tools. The research design of this study exemplifies a new approach by classifying persons with vision impairment or legal blindness into five target groups, with a hierarchical cluster analysis. The cluster analysis, which uses Ward’s method, was conducted with the results of a nationwide online survey in Austria. The survey encompassed detailed information about mobility barriers, landmarks and orientation cues, information needs, and technology use. The cluster results provided the basis for designing and developing a geographic information system (GIS)–based online information platform to support persons with vision impairment or blindness. The platform ( a) presents accessibility information and points of interest; ( b) presents the results of GIS-based analyses, like closest facilities, including navigation guidelines for pretrip planning; and (c) is designed with an accessible user interface.