Tech for Good – Accessibility & Inclusivity
Merit Recipient
BindiMaps has helped over 5000 people with low or no vision independently navigate inside of unfamiliar public buildings like hospitals, shopping centres and workplaces. Prior to BindiMaps, people with low or no vision struggled with wayfinding on their own, and most signage is visual. One in every 42 Australians has low or no vision, but they are not equally represented in our public spaces because of difficulty in wayfinding.
We are all used to using our smartphones to navigate our way around in outdoor spaces using the assistance of GPS related apps. However, once indoors GPS does not work, and we are left reliant on old fashioned visual signage, digital kiosks and the like. It is hard enough to wayfind if you are sighted, but next to impossible if you are blind. The next time that you notice a Braille sign in a public building, ask yourself – if you were blind, how would you know that the sign was there?
BindiMaps is a smartphone app that helps anyone find their way around an unfamiliar public buildling. While these days anyone can use the app, it was first developed for people with low or no vision. The app now also supports wheelchair accessible routing, and is currently working on autism spectrum routing.
BindiMaps is particularly proud that it supports people with a disabiltiy, so that there can be more people who can create, contribute and consume in our modern society.