Accessible wayfinding: step-free routes and a kiosk that comes down to you
DigiMaps plans the route around the visitor, not the floor plan. There are six routing profiles, and step-free is a hard rule: a wheelchair route never uses stairs or escalators. On kiosks, one Accessible mode button moves every control into the lower half of the screen and turns on larger text and spoken directions.
Six routing profiles. The visitor picks the one that fits.
Each profile changes which paths the router may use, or how it estimates time. Every industry pack includes them; campus and office packs leave out the stroller profile.
Other route options
- Fastest, or fewest floor changes
- Prefer indoor or shaded paths
- Add a stop on the way, such as the nearest prayer room
- Opening hours checked against arrival: “Closes at 17:00, before you arrive”
- Hospital and government packs refuse visitor routes through staff corridors and say “please ask staff”
| Profile | What the route does |
|---|---|
| Standard | The default. Stairs and escalators can be part of the route. |
| Wheelchair | Step-free only: lifts and ramps, never stairs or escalators. |
| Reduced mobility | Walking times are worked out at 0.8 m/s, so the time on screen fits a slower pace. |
| Avoid stairs | Keeps staircases out of the route. |
| Stroller | For pushchairs and prams. Not offered in the campus and office packs. |
| Low vision | Prefers routes with fewer turns, so there is less to remember. |
Step-free is a rule the router will not break.
In this example on a fictional hospital, the standard route from the main entrance to Cardiology takes the stairs. Switch on step-free and it goes to the lifts: longer, but usable. If a place has no step-free way in, the visitor sees a best-effort route with a clear flag, never a staircase presented as accessible.
One button for the whole bundle, or each setting on its own.
Accessible mode sits on the idle screen and in the kiosk dock, one tap from any visitor. Every setting belongs to that visitor and resets when their session ends.
- Controls within reach
- Every control moves into the lower half of the screen for seated and wheelchair users. The map stays framed above the panel, so the route is still visible.
- Larger text
- Bigger type across the kiosk screens.
- High contrast
- Black and yellow, with every text and surface pair at 7:1 or better.
- Step-free routes
- Lifts and ramps, never stairs or escalators.
- Speak directions
- Reads each new route aloud in the visitor’s language, using the voices installed on the kiosk.
- Calm mode
- No moving map and no animations.
- Easy read
- Pictures and short words.
Spoken directions depend on the voices installed on each kiosk. Where a language has no voice, the Listen button is hidden. There is no voice input or voice search.
Three minimums, drawn at actual size.
Kiosk text is never smaller than 20 px, touch targets are at least 56 px, and high contrast holds 7:1 on every text pair. Kiosks in bright light can use an outdoor sunlight theme that keeps every pair at 7:1 or better, whatever your accent colour.
A · Touch target
Every kiosk button is at least 56 × 56 px.
B · Text size
Kiosk text is never smaller than 20 px.
C · High contrast
Black and yellow. Every text and surface pair is at least 7:1.
On a phone, the visitor’s route choice comes along.
Scan the QR code on the kiosk and the phone opens the same route, with the same destination, language and step-free choice. Phones and desktops get the routing profiles, but not the full kiosk panel.
| Feature | Kiosk | Phone and desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Six routing profiles and the step-free rule | Yes | Yes |
| Route handed over by QR, profile and language included | Draws the code on screen | Opens it in the browser, no app |
| Reach, larger text, high contrast, Calm, Easy read | Yes | No. The full panel is kiosk-only today |
| Reduced motion | Calm mode | Follows the phone’s own reduced-motion setting |
| Zoom | Locked, with larger text instead | Pinch-zoom kept |
| Reset for the next person | After 60 s without a touch (configurable), or hold Home for 2 s | Not needed: it is the visitor’s own phone |
Hospital mode won’t publish a map without a step-free way out.
Choose the hospital life-safety profile and Studio checks the walking network before each release. These are software release checks, not a fire-safety approval. They can’t be overridden: if one fails, the map does not publish.
- At least two routable exits
- Two exit alternatives from every point on the walking network
- An accessible route to an accessible exit from every point
Where we stand on WCAG, in plain words.
The sentence we use about WCAG, the checks behind it, and what we do not claim until there has been an audit.
What we say
“Designed to support WCAG 2.1 AA, with automated accessibility checks in our build pipeline.”
- What backs it
- A static WCAG 2.1 A and AA source check on every test run, axe checks during development and in browser test runs, and 123 kiosk checks for text size, target size and contrast.
- Not claimed
- Conformance or certification. There has been no third-party audit yet, and there is no VPAT.
- Still open
- Some colour-contrast and ARIA results from browser runs need manual review. Kiosk page zoom is off on purpose, with larger text in its place.
Accessible wayfinding guide: reach, contrast and the standards to plan against
Questions accessibility leads ask us
If your access audit raised something we haven’t covered, send it to us.
Does DigiMaps meet WCAG 2.1 AA?
DigiMaps is designed to support WCAG 2.1 AA, with automated accessibility checks in our build pipeline. It has not had a third-party audit and there is no VPAT, so we do not claim conformance. We can walk your accessibility lead through the checks that do exist.
What happens if there is no step-free route to a destination?
The router will not quietly add a stair to a step-free route. If no step-free path exists, the visitor sees a best-effort route that is clearly flagged, so they can ask staff or pick another destination.
Can a wheelchair user reach every control on the kiosk?
Controls within reach moves every control into the lower half of the screen and keeps the map framed above the panel, so the route stays visible. It is part of Accessible mode, one tap from the idle screen. How low that half sits depends on the screen size and mounting height, so check it with a seated user when the kiosk is installed.
Do spoken directions work in Arabic?
Spoken directions use the voices installed on each kiosk. If a kiosk has no voice for a language, the Listen button is hidden rather than reading in the wrong voice, so check Arabic voices on your chosen hardware before go-live. DigiMaps reads directions aloud but has no voice input or voice search.
Do accessibility settings carry over to the visitor’s phone?
The route does. The QR hand-off carries the destination, language, step-free choice and routing profile. Display settings such as high contrast and reach are kiosk-only; on phones, pinch-zoom works and the phone’s own reduced-motion setting is followed.
Does the next visitor inherit someone else’s settings?
No. Every setting belongs to one visitor. After 60 seconds without a touch (configurable per kiosk), or when someone holds Home for 2 seconds, the kiosk clears the search, route, language and accessibility settings.
Bring your accessibility lead to the demo
We switch on reach mode, high contrast and a step-free route on a sample hospital, then go through exactly what DigiMaps does and does not claim against WCAG.