An app to help people with vision impairment is being rolled out in public buildings across Newcastle.
BindiMaps is a way-finding app that provides an audio 'map' of a building that can help people with low or no vision navigate and find facilities such as disabled bathrooms, car spaces and elevators. It uses a network of Bluetooth beacons, a mapping and route guidance system and smartphone sensors to describe to the user where they are, what's around them, and the best way to get to their destination.
It had been trialled at Newcastle Museum last year, and has been extended to Museum Park, Civic Theatre, City Hall, and Newcastle Library - making City of Newcastle the first organisation in the Hunter to embrace the app.
Andrew Vodic, who is CEO of Community Disability Alliance Hunter and co-chairs City of Newcastle's Access Inclusion Advisory Committee, said the app took the "guess work" out of navigating new spaces as a low vision person.
"Without the app, you're really having to rely on getting very close to something to know where you are," he said. "It helps you know the other end of the building might be where you need to be."
Mr Vodic said the app was a bit complex to use at first, so would like to see it not only rolled for everyone in the community to access, but also know how to use it.
"The more people know about it, the more user friendly it becomes," he said.
Labor councillor Margaret Wood, who also co-chairs the Access Inclusion Advisory Committee, said information would initially be provided on council's website, but the next step would be providing extra instructions and guidance on using the app.
"We want to make all our public spaces, particularly our cultural institutions, accessible to everyone," Cr Wood said.
She said it was trialled at the museum during the Sea, Space and Beyond exhibition which featured artworks featured blind, low vision and sighted creators, and expected it to be expanded to Newcastle Art Gallery when it re-opens.
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