MABLESim: A simulation framework for studying accessibility challenges for people with disabilities within indoor environments

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Authors
Garfias, Francisco R.
Namboodiri, Vinod
Advisors
Issue Date
2024-10-24
Type
Conference paper
Keywords
Accessibility , Build environments , Simulation , Urban planning , Wayfinding
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Citation
Francisco Javier Rafful Garfias and Vinod Namboodiri. 2024. MABLESim: A Simulation Framework for Studying Accessibility Challenges for People with Disabilities within Indoor Environments. In Proceedings of the 21st International Web for All Conference (W4A '24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 23–32. https://doi.org/10.1145/3677846.3677852
Abstract

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) face many challenges in navigating unfamiliar indoor spaces due to physical accessibility barriers, insufficient wayfinding signage, and a lack of satellite-positioning capability. Unfortunately it is not easy to study these known accessibility challenges within indoor environments due to the difficulty in collecting sufficient mobility data from PWDs who navigate such environments. This paper introduces a simulation framework called MABLESim designed to study accessibility of indoor spaces for people with disabilities (PWDs). As a novel framework, this paper presents implementation details in addition to the definition of key simulation parameters and metrics important to characterize user mobility and indoor environments. The use of MABLESim is demonstrated in two different buildings for individuals with differing mobility characteristics. As a tool to gather valuable insights, MABLESim contributes to the broader dialogue on inclusivity in built environments, offering a roadmap for creating indoor spaces that cater to the diverse needs of individuals with disabilities. © 2024 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).

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Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
Journal
Book Title
Series
21st International Web for All Conference, W4A 2024
13 May 2024 through 14 May 2024
204172
PubMed ID
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EISSN