Investigating the Enabling Impact of the WeWALK Accessible Smartphone and Hardware-Based Mobility Application on the Functional Performance of Elderly People

英国有1200万老年人，其中许多人依靠智能手机来帮助参与日常生活，例如寻找道路，会见家人和朋友以及寻找就业机会。这可以通过内置的智能手机辅助功能实现，例如屏幕阅读器（旁白，TalkBack），颜色过滤器和灵巧工具。然而，大多数智能手机界面的开发与这些功能没有足够的兼容性，限制了它们的实用性。这在寻路应用程序中尤其成问题，因为它们复杂的视觉驱动设计语言给老年用户造成了障碍。WeWALK智能手机应用程序旨在成为视障用户最容易访问的导航和探索解决方案，提供可靠的逐向步行和公共交通导航。它提供视觉和听觉指示，以及全屏阅读器兼容性和低视力滤色器和文本大小。通过WeWALK智能手杖，用户可以通过语音和简单的触摸手势访问所有这些功能，减少移动时的复杂性。这些设计原则可以扩展到改善更广泛的老年人社区的生活，但这必须遵循以用户为中心的方法，并进行广泛的文献综述和用户测试。该项目将首先研究老年用户的需求，然后为应用程序的未来发展制定框架。可以定义新的需求，并更好地了解智能手机导航解决方案的功能影响。

There are 12 million elderly people in the UK, many of whom rely on smartphones to aid participation in daily living, such as wayfinding, meeting family and friends, and seeking employment. This is made possible with built-in smartphone accessibility features such as screen readers (VoiceOver, TalkBack), colour filters, and dexterity tools. However, most smartphone interfaces are not developed with sufficient compatibility with these features, limiting their usefulness. This is especially problematic in wayfinding applications due to their complex, visually-driven design language that creates barriers for the elderly user.The WeWALK smartphone application aims to be the most accessible navigation and exploration solution for visually impaired users, providing reliable turn-by-turn walking and public transport navigation. It delivers both visual and auditory instructions, as well as full screen reader compatibility and low vision colour filters and text sizes. With the WeWALK companion smart cane, users can access all these features through voice and simple touch gestures, reducing complexity when on the go.These design principles can be extended to improve the lives of the broader elderly community, but this must follow a user-centric approach with extensive literature review and user testing. This project will first research the needs of elderly users, then setting a framework for the app's future development. New requirements can be defined and a better understanding of the functional impact of smartphone navigation solutions can be attained.