PLACES: A Framework for Supporting Blind and Partially Sighted People in Outdoor Leisure Activities
Maryam Bandukda, Catherine Holloway, Aneesha Singh, Nadia Berthouze · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '20) · doi:10.1145/3373625.3417001
Summary
This paper investigates the experiences and needs of blind and partially sighted people (BPSP) when engaging in outdoor leisure activities, particularly visiting parks and natural environments. The researchers conducted a multi-method qualitative study comprising an online survey (22 BPSP), semi-structured interviews (20 BPSP with ages ranging from 25-65, mix of totally blind and partially sighted), and a focus group (9 BPSP plus 1 support worker). The study explored how BPSP plan, access, and engage with natural green spaces, and how technology currently supports or fails to support these experiences. Building on Clawson and Knetsch's five-phase outdoor recreation model (planning, travel to site, on-site activity, return travel, recollection), the researchers adapted and extended it based on their findings into the PLACES framework: PLan, Access, Contribute, Engage, Share. The key innovation is the addition of "Contribute" as a cross-cutting theme — participants consistently expressed a desire not just to receive assistance but to actively contribute at every stage, from co-planning trips with companions to helping other BPSP access places, developing shared multisensory approaches to engaging with nature, and sharing experiences to benefit others. The research draws from participants across the UK visiting various settings including urban parks, forests, lakesides, and hiking trails.
Key findings
The study identified barriers at each stage of the leisure experience. During planning, BPSP faced limited accessible information about parks, relying heavily on sighted companions to research destinations — participants expressed frustration at being excluded from decision-making. During access, finding park entrances was a critical barrier, with participants preferring smaller pocket parks over large parks with multiple entrances. Wayfinding inside parks was the most challenging aspect, as parks lack the urban landmarks (building lines, road crossings, traffic sounds) that BPSP use for city navigation, and existing navigation apps lose accuracy once users leave streets. Long cane users found grass and uneven terrain particularly difficult. Obstacle avoidance — including overhead hazards like branches — caused significant anxiety, with some older participants avoiding parks entirely due to fear of getting lost or falling. During engagement, participants valued rich multisensory experiences, building mental pictures through sound, touch, and smell with companions who described visual elements. A novel "park hub" concept emerged from the focus group — physical locations within parks providing orientation and information support that could serve people with various disabilities. For sharing, participants wanted to capture and share nature sounds, photos, and wayfinding information with the BPSP community but lacked accessible tools to do so.
Relevance
This research fills an important gap by focusing on leisure and wellbeing rather than the functional mobility tasks that dominate accessibility research for BPSP. The PLACES framework reframes blind people as active contributors rather than passive recipients of assistance — a perspective aligned with disability justice and interdependence theory. For accessibility practitioners, the findings highlight that navigation technology designed for urban built environments fails in natural settings, representing an underserved design space. The concept of interdependence is particularly valuable: participants did not seek full independence but rather meaningful participation in collaborative planning and shared sensory experiences with companions. The paper also reveals how technology can both enable and detract from outdoor experiences — some participants explicitly rejected using technology during visits to preserve the natural ambience, preferring to access information before or after. This nuanced view challenges assumptions that more technology is always better and suggests designs should respect user agency over when and how information is delivered.
Tags: blindness · outdoor accessibility · wayfinding · leisure · navigation · participatory design · wellbeing · multisensory experience