ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the activity of wayfinding and the issues it poses for people with cognitive disabilities and then overview the technological innovations that are in development to support their independence in wayfinding. Background knowledge and experience also appear to play a role in wayfinding: people with more opportunity to explore and learn about the logic of environments perform better. Siegel A. W. and White S. H. postulated a framework that included three types of knowledge used for navigation: landmark, route, and survey. Across disability categories, the evidence tends to suggest that people with cognitive disabilities rely on landmark knowledge over other types of knowledge. Existing technologies developed specifically for individuals with cognitive impairments are still largely in the pilot stages and none have been widely deployed. Developers who want to create technologies for wayfinding that are appropriate for people with cognitive disabilities need to consider the needs and challenges of this target group.
