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The purpose of this paper is to design and test effective indoor navigation solutions for visually impaired people in situations where GPS, bluetooth or Wi-Fi signals are unavailable. The authors use the inertial measurement units (IMU), the compass and the barometer of a smart phone.

The authors have used commercial Android smart phones with IMU, compass and barometer to record a path and to give navigation instructions in an adapted way using a mobility-specific vocabulary. The method proposed is to save paths taking into account different indoor waypoints such as the stairs (change from one floor to another) and the change of direction of the trajectory of the path (e.g. one-fourth turn right or left), recording data from the IMU sensor’s, compass and barometer of the smart phone. Having this information and the characteristics of the each segment (distance, azimuth to the north and pressure) of the path, it is possible to provide functional navigation guidance to the visually impaired subject. Three different visually impaired people (one partially sighted and two fully blind) and three sighted people have tested the paths. The efficiency of the navigation is analyzed in terms of distance and time using the comparison between blind and sighted people.

The main finding is that it is possible to guide visually impaired people some hundreds of meters just using the sensors of a smart phone under certain conditions: the visually impaired person has to understand the guidance instructions and respect some strategies (e.g. not to walk diagonally across vast spaces). Additionally it is observed that the visually impaired participants walked distances, which are not much different to the optimal values. On the other hand; because of their hesitations using their white cane to find free paths, they take in some cases 50 percent more time to arrive (for a few minutes path, this time is not critical and even more efficient than looking for a guide). One thing to highlight is that even with this hesitation, the subjects arrived to the final destination.

This paper demonstrates how an IMU coupled to a compass and a barometer from a Smart Phone employing a spoken mobility language (e.g. next corridor to the left; at the end of the stairs turn right, turn left, etc.) can guide visually impaired people inside buildings.

This study aims to comprehend the perceptions of visually impaired users in development of information systems in Indian universities. This will help higher educational institutions in India to fulfil information requirements of visually impaired users.

A twofold method was used in the study: survey of visually impaired students in four universities; design and development of an online information system for visually impaired (ISVI). A structured questionnaire was used for survey of visually impaired users in Indian universities. The questionnaire with 33 open-ended questions was distributed among 603 visually impaired users and 316 responses were received. Stratified sampling technique was used in data collection. Response rate was 52.4%. The received responses were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 19 and presented through tables and figures.

Majority of respondents revealed that lack of content availability in vernacular language, poor information resources access mechanism, less volume of course content and poor maintenance of assistive software(s) and devices and non-standardized e-resources compatible with the assistive software(s) are some major inhibits faced. Majority of respondents revealed that they prefer scribes in examinations because use of assistive technology (AT) is time-consuming. Lack of training and confidence in using AT is another reason for preferring scribes in examinations.

This study was conducted on a limited number of visually impaired uses in Indian universities. Also, the online system ISVI contains a sample collection related to undergraduate courses only.

This study will help Indian universities to identify problems faced by visually impaired users. Findings of the study can help faculty members, decision-makers to understand the perspective of visually impaired. Besides this, the study can also help government agencies in formulating policies. Findings will help in developing robust information resources suiting the needs of visually impaired.

This study developed an online system ISVI (www.isvi.in) suitable to address the requirements of visually impaired students. Furthermore, it can guide policymakers, faculty members and information professionals in developing seamless open access information systems.

The purpose of this paper is to validate a framework for spatial representation, aka the spatial representation framework (SRF), to define spaces and building information required by people with visual impairment as a foundation of indoor maps for indoor navigation systems.

The SRF was first created with seven main components by a review of the relevant literature and state-of-the-art technologies shown in the preliminary study. This research comprised of two tasks: investigating problems and behaviors while accessing spaces and buildings by visually impaired people (VIP) and validating the SRF where 45 participants were recruited (30 VIP and 15 experts).

The findings revealed a list of problems and challenges were used to validate and redefine the spatial representation, which was validated by both VIP and experts. The framework subsequently consisted of 11 components categorized into five layers, each layer of which is responsible for a different function.

This framework provides essential components required for building standard indoor maps as a foundation for indoor navigations systems for people with visual impairment.

This framework lays the foundation for a range of indoor-based applications by using this SRF to represent indoor spaces. Example applications include: indoor navigation by people with disabilities, robots and autonomous systems, security and surveillance, and context and spatial awareness.

This paper presents the validated spatial representation for indoor navigation by people with visual impairment with its details and description, methodology, results and findings of the validation of the SRF.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study of developing a web service that will act as an intermediary between the Audio Library system for the visually impaired and the library management systems. The Audio Library is based on speech recognition and text-to-speech engines and it produces synthesized speech from various electronic materials. It has its own database with a limited number of books and textual materials. Web services described in this paper should enable access to a larger number of electronic resources provided by libraries.

In this paper, the author specified software architecture of a web service analyzing different approaches for search and retrieval.

Web service described in this paper is the first software solution addressing the problem of lending e-books in Serbia. It aggregates collections of different libraries in a single access point for the Audio Library system. In this way, users of the Audio Library system are provided with larger number of electronic resources.

Communication between the Audio Library and this web service is achieved by using standardized protocols for exchanging library data. However, those protocols did not fulfill all necessary requirements, so the authors propose some extensions to overcome those issues.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to providing suitable accommodation for people with sight loss, but planning at the design stage could eradicate many of the basic problems of living with visual impairment, while well‐considered adaptations to existing housing can also improve the quality of many people's lives. Research funded by Thomas Pocklington Trust, a leading sight loss charity and housing provider, found that much existing housing falls far short of the needs of people with sight loss, but that basic design choices offer major improvements. This article shows how good design can help people lead independent, active lives. It questions the lack of planning for sensory disability in Lifetime Homes and takes lighting as an example of how existing homes can be improved for those living with sight loss.

The University of Missouri‐Kansas City (UMKC) is one of four campuses of the University of Missouri (UM). As an urban university, it is committed to serving the needs of urban society. It provides under‐graduate, professional, and graduate schools, and the university's catalog states UMKC's dedication to public service related to community needs and resources. The University Library's vision statement calls for service supporting the information resources needs of UMKC and the community. In the past two years, the library has pursued fulfillment of this mission by offering improved service to students, staff, and community users with disabilities.

Standards are being developed in five primary areas of e‐book development: e‐book formats, digital audio formats, digital rights management languages, digital rights management systems, and distribution and promotion. Each of these standards has technological, economic and social aspects. This article describes some key e‐books standards and discusses how these aspects are shaping the emerging e‐book products.

A substantial number of models have been developed over the years, with the purpose of describing the information seeking and searching of people in various user groups and contexts. Several models have been frequently applied in user studies, but are rarely included in research on participants with impairments. Models are purposeful when developing theories. Consequently, it might be valuable to apply models when studying this user group, as well. The purpose of this study was to explore whether existing models are applicable in describing the online information seeking and searching of users with impairments, with an overall aim to increase the use of models in studies involving impairments.

Six models were selected according to the following criteria: the model should address information seeking or searching, include the interaction between users and systems whilst incorporating assistive technology. Two user groups were selected from each of the categories: cognitive, sensory and motor impairments, namely dyslexia, autism, blindness, deafness, paralysation and Parkinson's. The models were then analysed based on known barriers reported for these cohorts.

All the selected models had potential to be applied in user studies involving impairments. While three of the models had the highest potential to be used in the current form, the other three models were applicable either through minor revisions or by combining models.

This study contributes with a new perspective on the use of models in information seeking and searching research on users with impairments.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights on the most hindering barriers that sight and hearing impaired passengers face when using public transport services. Furthermore, possible convenient solutions to the identified problems shall be presented. To allow for an understanding of these propositions a short introduction and clear definition on sight and hearing impairment is provided.

First a clear definition of sight and hearing impairment is developed to delimit from blind and “normal” persons. A two phase approach was utilized where in the first step qualitative interviews were conducted and the findings were then evaluated based on a literature review.

The authors found a wide variety of different problems being imposed on impaired passengers that could be segmented into four categories (“stops and stations”, “vehicles”, “general mobility problems” and “public awareness”). Additionally multiple solutions to each of these barriers are presented and the main target group is indicated.

Further research is required in the perception of the impaired on specific barriers and solutions, which was only qualitatively provided in this study. Additionally the attitude and awareness of public transport companies towards the recognition of sight and hearing impaired as a specific target group and the implementation of solutions for them are important factors that are not investigated as of yet.

As public transport is an ever more important factor in everyday life, the responsible authorities should be made aware of the specific problems imposed on sight and hearing impaired persons. Therefore, this paper provides a first comprehensive list of barriers with convenient solutions that should be considered for a barrier‐free public transport system.

This paper provides a first introduction of barriers and possible solutions for sight and hearing impaired passengers in public transport systems. Therefore, authorities and public transport companies looking for options to improve their services can lean on these results.

In 1994, the Executive Management Committee (EMC) of Technikon Pretoria took a strategic decision to develop educational programmes in environmental management and sustainable development. The EMC also decided to integrate these programmes with the development and implementation of an environmental management policy for Technikon Pretoria. This paper describes, in the form of a case study, the project embarked upon, which brings together the development and implementation of the curriculum, research and development, management processes for sustainability, community service and national and international cooperation. The paper discusses successes and failures, and the significant lessons that could be learnt from the experience.