Investigating the Navigational Habits of People who are Blind in India
Anirudh Nagraj, Ravi Kuber, Foad Hamidi, Raghavendra SG Prasad · 2021 · The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2021) · doi:10.1145/3441852.3471203
Summary
This paper presents a qualitative study of the navigational experiences of 14 people who are legally blind in the Bangalore metropolitan area of India, a low and middle income country (LMIC) where infrastructure conditions differ substantially from the high income countries (HICs) where most blind navigation research has been conducted. Participants aged 17 to 30 were recruited from a charity-run K-12 residential school for students with visual impairments, with conditions ranging from no vision to light perception to object perception. Semi-structured interviews of 40-60 minutes were conducted in English or Kannada (the state language) by bilingual researchers, with 11 interviews in person and 3 conducted remotely due to COVID-19. The study used thematic analysis with inductive coding by two researchers, with a third reviewer. The findings reveal navigation challenges shaped by infrastructure gaps, environmental conditions, and cultural context that are largely absent from existing accessibility research. Participants described navigating poorly maintained roads with unpredictable potholes, debris, and uneven terrain; crossing busy highways without pedestrian crossings where motorcyclists do not follow traffic rules; dealing with monsoon season flooding that masks obstacles, changes terrain, and makes mobile devices impractical to use; navigating at night in poorly lit areas; and using older public buses that lack platforms, leading to dangerous boarding and alighting situations where drivers sometimes move before passengers have safely exited.
Key findings
The white cane emerged as the dominant and most trusted navigational tool, far outweighing any digital technology. While some participants used Google Maps or Lazarillo, technology played a much smaller role than in comparable HIC studies due to cost barriers, language barriers in English-centric apps, inconsistent internet access, incomplete mapping data, and environmental noise masking audio output. A striking finding was the practice of "interlocking" — groups of blind individuals linking arms in a chain formation for nighttime navigation, with those who can perceive some light positioned at the edges to detect obstacles. This collaborative navigation strategy has not been documented in Western-focused research. Participants relied heavily on third parties for navigation support, including passersby, bus drivers, and conductors, though they reported challenges with incorrect directions and social dynamics around requesting help. The monsoon season presented a unique and severe set of challenges: flooding masks landmarks and obstacles, terrain becomes muddy and slippery, some participants reported going barefoot to avoid losing slippers, and mobile devices become impractical to operate while holding a cane and umbrella. Participants also noted that older buildings and infrastructure were far less accessible than newer metro stations, reflecting how the era of construction determines accessibility.
Relevance
This paper is a crucial contribution to the geographic diversity of accessibility research, challenging the assumption that navigational technologies developed in well-maintained Western urban environments will transfer effectively to LMICs. For accessibility practitioners and technology designers, the key lesson is that infrastructure cannot be taken for granted — pedestrian crossings, maintained sidewalks, accessible bus stops, and reliable internet connectivity are not universal. The interlocking navigation practice demonstrates that blind communities develop sophisticated collaborative strategies adapted to their specific contexts, and that assistive technology design should complement rather than replace these practices. The study also highlights the importance of multilingual support in navigation apps, affordability considerations for users in lower-income contexts, and the need for navigation solutions that account for environmental extremes like monsoon conditions. Organizations developing assistive navigation technologies for global deployment must conduct user research in diverse LMIC contexts rather than assuming one-size-fits-all solutions.
Tags: visual impairments · blindness · navigation · wayfinding · assistive technology · low and middle income countries · India · white cane · public transportation · orientation and mobility
Standards referenced: Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (India) · Americans with Disabilities Act