**Author details**

*Visual Impairment and Blindness - What We Know and What We Have to Know*

requirements of ways2see.

about accessibility.

and inclusion.

**Acknowledgements**

tific leader of the project.

this project.

University of Graz.

an extensive number of attributes presented as orientation and navigation hints along routes, (4) a user profile based indication of obstacles for the avoidance of barriers, and (5) personalized directions through the integration of this information in the routing analysis. The user profile-oriented results can be provided through GIS analysis on an expert level behind the scenes, where spatial data is analyzed with different network settings. Special focus hereby is given to the definition of the basic network, using sidewalks and adapting the standard network settings to the

Parallel to offer user-oriented and customizable information as routes and route

The combination of spatial information; its analysis with geographic technologies, namely, GIS; and the application toward a marginalized group underpins the potential of geography in disability studies by a clear positioning of the competence for spatial approaches. ways2see is the result of a participative process, integrating persons with visual impairments or blindness through iterative steps into the development process. Different strategies were elaborated and are used to meet the needs of the target group. Inter- and transdisciplinarity is guaranteed through the partner

In a future perspective, ways2see not only provides spatial information as orientation and navigation information but shows the potential to work as supporting tool in urban development and planning processes and can help to reduce barriers in the urban environments and—furthermore—in our minds. It is also intended as one way to raise awareness in society and herewith to promote social sustainability

ways2see is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). Special

The author would like to express special thanks to Sebastian Drexel, Antonia Dückelmann, Simon Landauer, Bettina Mandl and Jana Obermeier for their enthusiasm and personal commitment and their creative and innovative contributions to

The author acknowledges the financial support of this publication by the

thanks are given to the project team. SynerGIS Informationssysteme GmbH is responsible for the coding, and Odilien-Institute—Society for People with Visual Impairment or Blindness is providing applied knowledge and expertise. The Department of Geography and Regional Science, University of Graz, is the scien-

directions, the results are presented to the target group in an accessible way by specific interface design, map layout, and map symbols. The Internet platform itself and the list of addresses as POI and directions are available with and are suitable for screen readers. ways2see can be described as accessible tool providing information

network and allows the development of a marketable product.

**316**

Susanne Zimmermann-Janschitz Department of Geography and Regional Science, University of Graz, Graz, Austria

\*Address all correspondence to: susanne.janschitz@uni-graz.at

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
