Accurately aligning to a crosswalk is an important component of safe street crossing for pedestrians who are blind. Six alignment cues were evaluated in a simulated crosswalk environment in which the angle of the crosswalk was not always in line with the slope of the ramp. The effectiveness of each cue is reported and implications are discussed.…

Five cues were evaluated with respect to their usefulness in directing the headings of pedestrians who were blind during street crossings. The study was conducted at a simulated crosswalk, with the angle of the crosswalk varied relative to the approach and direction of the slope of the ramp. Three cues worked well over the distance equivalent to…

Eighteen persons with visual impairments evaluated four systematically selected navigation systems. Their performance on 11 tasks, provided ratings, satisfaction on seven aspects of the assistive devices, and explanatory comments show generally valuable functionality and usability, as well as individual marked preferences for various features of…

We examined the utility of a PDA-based software system with integrated GPS technology for providing location-aware visual and auditory prompts to enable people with intellectual disability to successfully navigate a downtown bus route. Participants using the system were significantly more successful at completing a bus route than were people in a…

This study evaluated a protocol that was developed to assess how beneficial electronic travel aids are for persons who are visually impaired. Twenty persons with visual impairments used an electronic travel device (Trekker) for six weeks to conform to the protocol, which proved useful in identifying successful users of the device. (Contains 2…

This study evaluates the impact of using the software program AudioMetro, a tool that supports the orientation and mobility of people who are blind in the Metro system of Santiago de Chile. A quasi-experimental study considering experimental and control groups and using the paired Student's t in a two sample test analysis (pretest-posttest) was…

An objective evaluation of the Sonic Pathfinder, a new ultrasonic mobility aid, showed that use of the aid changes mobility in many ways. Reduced perception of environmental sounds was not reflected in performance. The majority of users traveled slowly and exhibited less than optimal strategies. (Author/CL)

The final report details accomplishments of a New York City demonstration program to train handicapped students to travel independently on public transportation. It is explained that three major objectives were attained: five new replicators were identified during each of 3 years, replicators followed the program description, and replicators…

Mobility training refers to activities that will better help the sightless move within the environment with a minimum amount of assistance. Activities that have been successfully used with blind students in self-contained classes are described. (JN)

The study assessed the efficacy of a method of quantifying observations of blind clients made by orientation and mobility instructors. Client problems were observed for street crossings, bumps, stumbles, orientation, and drop-offs. (DB)

Twelve legally blind men tested two night-vision devices: one wide-angle light and one with a high-intensity beam. The study concluded that no one night light is best for all individuals and in some cases a smaller angle, high-intensity light may be more useful than a wider angle one. (Author/JDD)

This study compared the observational skills in orientation and mobility (O&M) of nine university students and nine certified O&M specialists using a digital video assessment. The students differed from the O&M specialists in their stylistic observations and the details of their responses. Implications for the improvement of video assessments are…

Electronic travel devices are used to transform information about the environment that would normally be perceived through the visual sense into a form that can be perceived by people who are blind or have low vision through another sense (Blasch, Long, & Griffin-Shirley, 1989). They are divided into two broad categories: primary devices and…

A survey of orientation and mobility specialists (N=26) was conducted to determine the mobility devices currently being used with visually impaired and elderly clients. These results were then used to design and develop an effective, commercially manufacturable adaptive-mobility device prototype which was tested with elderly individuals, multiply…

This paper is a product of Project COMPETE, a service demonstration project undertaken for the purpose of developing and validating a model and training sequence to improve transition services for moderately, severely, and profoundly retarded youth. The paper describes the Taxonomy of Community Living Skills, an organized statement of…