Investigating navigational behavior of wheelchair users in an urban environment guided by a mobile geospatial assistive navigation technology

Purpose: Social participation among wheelchair users depends heavily on mobility. While assistive navigation technologies like Google Maps have reshaped urban mobility, they often overlook the specific needs of wheelchair users. This study aimed to explore how wheelchair users interact with urban environments while using an assistive navigation technology and find gaps in route instructions, in order to determine the key information components required for adapted route instructions. Methods: A mixed-methods, simultaneous quantitative-qualitative field study was conducted with nine manual wheelchair users (7 males and 2 females, aged 21 to 61 years) in Quebec City, Canada. Participants navigated a predefined route using Google Maps while wearing eye-tracking glasses. Their navigation and semi-structured interviews during navigation were recorded, and their route descriptions were finally collected. Analysis of participants’ hesitation, confusion, stops, errors, visual behaviour, and perceptions was performed. Results: Findings revealed the need for more adapted instructions enriched with street-crossing and continuing-straight actions. The study emphasized the importance of alerts for accessibility and safety issues during wayfaring, and salient environmental objects to support orientation and route confirmation. Conclusion: Incorporating such information into adapted route instructions allows wheelchair users to anticipate route accessibility and salient environmental objects and focus on their surroundings rather than continuously checking cellphone and routes. This can improve their navigation experience and, ultimately, their social participation and quality of life.