Accessibility for Whom? Perceptions of Sidewalk Barriers Across Disability Groups and Implications for Designing Personalized Maps

TL;DR

This study investigates how different disability groups perceive sidewalk barriers through a large-scale survey, revealing perception differences and shared concerns, and demonstrates applications in personalized mapping and routing tools.

Contribution

It provides new insights into diverse mobility group perceptions of sidewalk barriers and introduces open datasets and prototypes for personalized accessibility solutions.

Findings

Perception of barriers varies across mobility groups.

Shared concerns exist among different disability groups.

Open datasets enable development of personalized mapping tools.

Abstract

Despite diverse mobility needs worldwide, existing mapping tools fail to address the varied experiences of different mobility device users. This paper presents a large-scale online survey exploring how five mobility groups -- users of canes, walkers, mobility scooters, manual wheelchairs, and motorized wheelchairs -- perceive sidewalk barriers. Using 52 sidewalk barrier images, respondents evaluated their confidence in navigating each scenario. Our findings (N=190) reveal variations in barrier perceptions across groups, while also identifying shared concerns. To further demonstrate the value of this data, we showcase its use in two custom prototypes: a visual analytics tool and a personalized routing tool. Our survey findings and open dataset advance work in accessibility-focused maps, routing algorithms, and urban planning.