The RNIB has joined forces with the international wayfinding system what3words to help blind and partially-sighted people arrive precisely where they need to be.
The charity is promoting wider use of the system, which makes it easier to direct people to specific locations even if they don’t have a street address. The RNIB is also campaigning with the technology sector for more inclusive street design to help people with sight loss find their way around towns and cities.
Robin Spinks, RNIB’s Senior Manager for Inclusive Design, said: “As someone with sight loss, I know from experience that street addresses often don’t provide precise locations. They might take you to the right building but then you’ve got to work out if you’ve come to the right entrance or need to be on the other side of the building entirely.
“Using what3words can help to reduce that anxiety and uncertainty and the extra time saved can be spent catching up with a friend or kicking off a business meeting rather than apologising for arriving late.”
The developers of what3words divided the world into 57 trillion squares, each measuring 3m by 3m and with a unique, randomly assigned three-word address. The system has literally been welcomed as a lifesaver by some people, with the emergency services and disaster response teams among those who use it.
In recent years the benefits have been applied to help with improving accessibility because what3words is more manageable than map co-ordinates and more precise than postcodes.
The RNIB notes that the system has been designed with voice input in mind so people can receive directions to exact locations by speaking three words into their enabled devices.
Chris Sheldrick, co-founder and CEO of what3words, said: “It’s been amazing to hear from RNIB how technologies such as what3words can make a huge difference to the day-to-day experiences of blind and partially-sighted people. As businesses across the UK plan for a return to public events this spring and summer, we’re encouraging them to publicise their 3 word addresses to give people more ways of finding exactly where they need to be.”
