Executive Summary #
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the percentage of college students with disabilities has nearly doubled during the past two decades, with more than 20% reporting a disability in the past five years.1 These students face additional challenges in college, which can reduce both success in the classroom and their chances of graduating. Furthermore, in 2016 the National Federation of the Blind, reported that of the 1.3 million legally blind individuals in the U.S., less than 15% percent earn a bachelor’s degree or higher from a residential college or university.2
Although there has been increasing awareness of the relationship between accessibility and success in educational settings, universities often fall short of providing fully inclusive environments for students with disabilities. Common barriers for college students with disabilities include outdated infrastructure, inaccessible buildings, and lack of assistive technologies, to name a few. Likewise, because different disabilities present different challenges, “a university’s inability to accommodate students’ disabilities restricts their ability to attend classes, engage in campus activities, and fully immerse themselves in the academic experience.”3
Clearly, the ability to move independently navigate on campus, and successfully navigate and find buildings, classrooms, and people are critical to ensuring quality of life and learning for all students. Additionally, studies have found that students, faculty and staff are most engaged and empowered to adopt digital systems that support and add ease to campus life.
GoodMaps delivers a proven, high-ROI digital wayfinding solution that can enhance indoor and outdoor navigation across college campuses. It also helps universities benefit significantly from fostering accessible campuses in many ways that go beyond simply meeting legal obligations:
- Broader reach and reputation: According to a recent report, students and parents increasingly expect and advocate for inclusive learning environments.4 Prioritizing accessibility can draw in a wider range of students, including individuals with disabilities, from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, or with diverse learning styles. Likewise, an accessible campus and learning environment fosters a sense of belonging for all students, contributing to a more vibrant and diverse student body.
- Improved student experience and outcomes: Accessible campus facilities result in enhanced culture and community, as they remove barriers and allow all students to fully engage in academic life. Students who feel supported and included are more likely to persist in their studies and achieve their academic goals.
- Strengthened reputation and institutional standing: Prioritizing accessibility demonstrates a commitment to strengthening the university’s reputation and aligning with stated institutional values. Additionally adhering to accessibility laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is a legal obligation and ensures ethical treatment of all students. Universities that champion accessibility are recognized as leaders and innovators, potentially attracting top talent and partnerships.
- Operational efficiencies and legal compliance: Designing student experiences for accessibility can save time and resources. Many features implemented for accessibility (e.g., integrated assistive technology) benefit a broader population including older visitors, parents with strollers, or those with temporary injuries.
GoodMaps can also be a tool for ALL students on campuses that wish to leverage its state-of-the-art indoor-outdoor wayfinding features in unique ways. For example, discovery research at Ball State University conducted in 2024 found that GoodMaps could be used to enhance the following programs:
Freshmen Orientation #
- Students do not enjoy sitting through long presentations about the campus landscape and campus life, as they are often overwhelmed with too much information presented out of the context physical locations on campus.
- Students would like more exposure to classrooms and dorms.
- When in need of navigational assistance, students would prefer to figure it out on their own rather than ask for help.
- Parents and students would like a more personalized and engaging way to explore campus to “get the lay of the land.”
- Students and parents prefer to explore campus freely and at their own pace.
The GoodMaps team has begun to explore how universities and other large, complex campus environments could integrate use of GoodMaps: Indoor Navigation to enhance orientation through guided tours, gamified navigation experiences, and more.
First-Year Experience #
- One of the biggest factors that determines retention of first-year students is whether they feel “connected” to their campus in the first year of attendance.
- Students are often overwhelmed on large, complex campuses when faced with having to find and navigate indoor and outdoor spaces in a timely manner.
- Students feel most involved in the campus’s community when they are comfortable with their surroundings and have a strong understanding of the campus map.
- For students, peer networks, faculty, and counseling courses providing key navigation skills and information played a valuable role in promoting success in their college career.
GoodMaps is also exploring ways to integrate students’ class and extracurricular schedules, as well as campus events so that the app can provide turn-by-turn navigation for students who wish to easily and efficiently route from room to room across campus.
Accessibility #
- Wheelchair users often struggle to find accessible routes on college campuses, costing them time and creating stress when navigating across campus.
- Blind users find independent navigation in any setting – particularly that of a complex college campus overwhelming, intimidating, and sometimes even unsafe.
- Neurodivergent students are often overwhelmed when trying to navigate unfamiliar, complex, or crowded spaces.
GoodMaps is designed for accessibility first. The app allows users to choose between both standard walking routes and routes that avoid stairs. The app is also fully screen reader compatible and provides real-time turn-by-turn routing instructions that ensure users arrive at their destination within inches of accuracy. To date, the app has been formally tested with hundreds of users with disabilities.
Solution: GoodMaps Digital Navigation Platform #
GoodMaps offers a comprehensive indoor-outdoor digital wayfinding system tailored for campus environments, including:
- Mobile turn-by-turn navigation for students, faculty, staff, and visitors
- Web maps & links that can be integrated into smart signage, sent over email, or embedded on websites to reduce reliance on printed maps
- Real-time, cloud-managed updates to respond to layout or map changes instantly
- Multi-language support and accessibility-first features (e.g., screen readers, voice prompts, visual contrast modes)
- Connected building maps that allow users to seamlessly route from a classroom or office in one building to a room in another building (indoor-outdoor-indoor routing)
Strategic Benefits #
- ✓ Improved Student Experience: Reduces anxiety, delays, and missed classes and meetings
- ✓ ADA-Compliant & Inclusive: Built to support all users across mobility, visual, cognitive, and language needs
- ✓ Multi-Building Scalability: Works seamlessly across university campuses, administrative office buildings, and parking facilities
- ✓ Fast Deployment, Low Overhead: Installs quickly with minimal facilities disruption
Footnotes
- Higher Education: Education Could Improve Information on Accommodations for Students with Disabilities, U.S. Government Accountability Office ↩︎
- Blindness Statistics, National Federation of the Blind ↩︎
- Improving Accessibility in Higher Education, Keystone Group ↩︎
- Why Digital Accessibility is a Top Priority for Higher Education Experiences in 2025, Concept3D ↩︎