Innovative Policy 2018 on Accessibility
ITU standard on indoor audio navigation system for the blind
| Laws and regulations involved: | ITU Recommendation ITU-T F.921 |
|---|---|
| Responsible Body: | International Telecommunication Union |
| Country of Implementation | Global |
PROBLEMS TARGETED
According to a 2012 report by the Royal National Institute of Blind People, 43 per cent of persons with vision impairments would like to leave their home more often, but traveling independently through indoor built environments such as public offices and transport terminals can be a difficult and intimidating experience.
SOLUTION, INNOVATION, AND IMPACT
Wayfindr is an Open Standard for indoor navigation technologies that provides audio instructions to users’ smartphones to help them find their way through built environments. Wayfindr is also the name of the London-based non-profit organization that created the Open Standard, based on the principles of user-centred design and extensive user research. An audio navigation system can use a wide range of technologies, such as Bluetooth low energy beacons set up at fixed locations to broadcast information/directions regarding the users’ surroundings, normally to a smartphone app: for example, “You are halfway down the ramp to the ticket hall – turn left and walk down the stairs – there are nine steps.”
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication – approved the technology as an international Open Standard in March 2017. By becoming an ITU standard, the technology is recognized as the benchmark for indoor audio navigation by all 193 UN member states and 800 tech companies, including such major companies as Google and Microsoft.
The standard provides all interested parties with a toolkit of information to help implement an accessible audio navigation system in their own countries or to develop products and services that work with the technology, such as mobile phone applications. The toolkit provides factual information, such as details on vision impaired people; recommendations for best practices, such as on installing the beacons; guidelines on development; suggestions for further investigation; and considerations for app development.
Information is freely available to help venue owners and their consultants to make their locations accessible, developers and designers of products and services to offer wayfinding for vision impaired people, and researchers to conduct research and experiments in the area of wayfinding.
OUTLOOK, TRANSFERABILITY AND FUNDING
Trials of the technology were initially carried out on the London Underground system, and additional trials have since taken place in Sydney, Oslo, and Barcelona, and Venice. The 
technology was also used at the M-Enabling Summit in June 2017 (promoting accessible and assistive technologies) by Right-Hear – an Israel-based advanced orientation provider using the wayfinding technology via a mobile phone app – thus allowing visually impaired participants to navigate the conference with ease.
Wayfindr plans to continue to improve the standard and welcomes input from stakeholders. Its overall aim is for the standard to accelerate the universal adoption of indoor audio navigation as a mainstream feature of all built environments and public transport infrastructures.
Wayfindr is also developing a software accreditation check that will allow venues and apps to show they comply with the standard, and a training course for rolling out the navigation systems.
Download factsheet as accessible pdf
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