An immersive test centre to provide independent mobility for people with disabilities

The Wayfinding Centre is an indoor test hall that simulates airports, buses, trams, stations and street crossings. It helps people with disabilities practice independent travel. Training is co-delivered by Access Ambassadors. By 2025 it trained 600+ professionals and ~300 participants.

Vision Irelands Services is a national Irish charity that supports people with visual impairments in a variety of ways. In 2024 it inaugurated the Wayfinding Centre in Dublin, a large indoor training environment that simulates public transport systems to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities. By April 2025, Wayfinding Centre had hosted over 3,000 visitors, trained 600 professionals, and provided travel training to 294 persons with disabilities.

Problems Targeted

Persons with disabilities face unequal access and limited skills for independent travel, as infrastructure is rarely inclusively tested.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

The Wayfinding Centre is an enormous indoor hall where elements of the built environment – such as airplanes, bus stations, trams, railways, and street crossings – are physically simulated to provide safe, practical opportunities for access testing. Developed by Vision Ireland Services together with more than 20 major partners – including the National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Irish Rail, Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Smurfit Kappa, Transdev, AerCap and local authorities – it delivers hands-on travel training in realistic settings. A special collaboration with the Dublin Fire Brigade has enabled crisis and emergency simulations. Training modules are co-delivered by persons with disabilities acting as Access Ambassadors. For organizations that provide services for people with disabilities, training or use of the facilities is free of charge. The Centre is also used by transport operators and professionals to test new infrastructure for accessibility. Formal partnerships with universities and researchers foster design innovation, policy input, and evaluation. Inaugurated in April 2024, by 2025 over 600 professionals and nearly 300 participants with disabilities were trained, and more than 20 research projects were supported, forming partnerships with two Irish universities.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

Initial funding of €7,825,000 came from public sources, including the National Transport Authority and donations. (#ZeroCall26)

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