BlindWays

Commuters with visual impairments can navigate city sidewalks with the help of a screen reader, but GPS directions often fall 30-50 feet short of the destination.

With the Perkins School for the Blind, I designed a mobile iPhone app for blind riders to precisely locate their bus stop. Using crowdsourced descriptions of the physical surroundings, BlindWays delivers tangible clues to positively identify which pole is actually the bus stop.

The app experience is optimized for tipsters to accurately input clues, and riders with low vision, navigating at their own pace via VoiceOver. By describing the unique street features of Boston’s 8,000 MBTA bus stops, BlindWays helps commuters travel with increased confidence and independence. BlindWays was recognized as a 2017 Webby Honoree.

Independence for bus riders with low vision

BlindWays micro navigation

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