{"id":9545,"date":"2026-02-16T15:54:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/tool\/tool-digital-navigation-in-school-buildings\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T15:16:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:16:30","slug":"tool-digital-navigation-in-school-buildings","status":"publish","type":"tool","link":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/tool\/tool-digital-navigation-in-school-buildings\/","title":{"rendered":"Tool | Digital navigation in school buildings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/navigatie.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8321 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;Indoor wayfinding for blind and visually impaired students&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id6312_e99684-e7 .kb-table-of-content-wrap{padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id6312_e99684-e7 .kb-table-of-contents-title-wrap{padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id6312_e99684-e7 .kb-table-of-contents-title{font-weight:regular;font-style:normal;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id6312_e99684-e7 .kb-table-of-content-wrap .kb-table-of-content-list{font-weight:regular;font-style:normal;margin-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;}<\/style><\/div><\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">For students with visual impairments, independently navigating a school building is not natural. New buildings, temporary schedule changes or multiple locations can create uncertainty and dependence on others. More and more educational institutions are therefore investigating digital solutions for indoor navigation<em>(wayfinding<\/em>).  <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Best practice: RUG Maps<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Recently, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rug.nl\/society-business\/center-for-information-technology\/news\/0130-rugmaps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">University of Groningen<\/a> launched the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rug.nl\/society-business\/center-for-information-technology\/news\/0130-rugmaps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">RUG Maps<\/a> app: a navigation app that shows students, employees and visitors the way around virtually all university buildings. Within a large organization with multiple locations spread across the city, finding meeting rooms, lecture halls, elevators or facilities such as printers and toilets was not always easy. The application was built entirely in-house based on open source. The data is hosted within the university. No user location is stored or shared with third parties. RUG Maps is now part of the university&#8217;s Smart Buildings program and is being further developed with new features, such as information on opening times, facilities per room and possibly crowding information.     <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What can RUG Maps do?<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">RUG Maps allows users to easily search by room number or building and then plot a route between any two points within the university buildings. The app also provides information about facilities such as restrooms and printers, as well as the accessibility of locations for people with additional support needs. The navigation works intuitively and user-friendly, similar to Google Maps, but developed specifically for university buildings.  <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Considerations for selection and development<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When selecting or developing an indoor navigation solution, it is important to actively involve students with visual impairments from the beginning. Their experiences and needs guide design and implementation. In addition, conduct user testing in your own buildings to test whether the solution works well in practice. Ensure structural management and regular updating of floor plans and facility information so that the app remains reliable. It is advisable to integrate the navigation solution into the institution&#8217;s broader accessibility policy and carefully consider how to deal with data ownership and privacy.    <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dutch market players and cooperation options<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the Netherlands, several companies are active in the field of indoor positioning, digital floor plans and smart building solutions. However, to our knowledge, there is currently no nationally available Dutch standard app developed specifically for indoor navigation for blind or visually impaired students in educational buildings. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some institutions opt for self-development (as at the University of Groningen with RUG Maps), while others collaborate with commercial parties offering indoor mapping or location-based technology. These include providers of smart building platforms, beacon technology or digital signage. However, many of these solutions are developed primarily for general wayfinding (e.g., workplace reservation or visitor navigation) and not specifically for visually impaired users. Accessibility for blind and visually impaired students should therefore always be an explicit part of the brief, design and user testing.   <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We do not recommend specific vendors. Institutions are advised to carefully test for: <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>demonstrated experience with accessibility<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>target group involvement in development<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>compliance with AVG\/GDPR<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>structural management and updating of data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The final choice depends on context, scale, available expertise and policy frameworks of the institution.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/knowledge-base\/?_filter_domein=digitale-toegankelijkheid\">Read more about digital accessibility here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For students with visual impairments, independently navigating a school building is not natural. New buildings, temporary schedule changes or multiple locations can create uncertainty and dependence on others. More and more educational institutions are therefore investigating digital solutions for indoor navigation(wayfinding). Best practice: RUG Maps Recently, the University of Groningen launched the RUG Maps app:&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8322,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","wds_primary_filter_domein":0,"wds_primary_filter_ondersteuningsbehoefte":0,"wds_primary_filter_sector":0,"wds_primary_filter_uitgave":0,"footnotes":""},"filter_domein":[99,101],"filter_ondersteuningsbehoefte":[134],"filter_sector":[135,138,137,136],"filter_uitgave":[],"class_list":["post-9545","tool","type-tool","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","filter_domein-digital-accessibility","filter_domein-physical-accessibility","filter_ondersteuningsbehoefte-visual-impairment","filter_sector-hpe-en","filter_sector-ue-en","filter_sector-ve-en","filter_sector-vet-en"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"filter_domein":[{"value":99,"label":"Digital accessibility"},{"value":101,"label":"Physical accessibility"}],"filter_ondersteuningsbehoefte":[{"value":134,"label":"Visual impairment"}],"filter_sector":[{"value":135,"label":"HPE"},{"value":138,"label":"UE"},{"value":137,"label":"VE"},{"value":136,"label":"VET"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/ecio.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/navigatie.jpg",768,768,false],"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tool\/9545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tool"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tool"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tool\/9545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9546,"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tool\/9545\/revisions\/9546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"filter_domein","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter_domein?post=9545"},{"taxonomy":"filter_ondersteuningsbehoefte","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter_ondersteuningsbehoefte?post=9545"},{"taxonomy":"filter_sector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter_sector?post=9545"},{"taxonomy":"filter_uitgave","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecio.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter_uitgave?post=9545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}