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Journal of Technologies Information and Communication

Towards an Inclusive University Campus: Participatory Diagnosis under Human-Centered Design and Guidelines for the Autonomous Orientation of People with Visual Impairments
Liliana González-Palacio 1 * , Juan Gómez-Vélez 1, Ronald Martinod 1, Sofia Acosta-Pareja 1, Isabela Acosta-Pareja 1, Maria Olaya-López 1, Mauricio González-Palacio 2, John García-Giraldo 2
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1 Escuela de ciencias aplicadas e Ingeniería, Universidad EAFIT, Medellín, Colombia
2 Faculdad de Ingenieria, Universidad de Medellín, Medellín, Colombia
* Corresponding Author
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Research Article

Journal of Technologies Information and Communication, 2026 - Volume 6 Issue 1, Article No: 45762
https://doi.org/10.55267/rtic/19164

Published Online: 16 Aug 2026

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How to cite this article
APA 6th edition
In-text citation: (González-Palacio et al., 2026)
Reference: González-Palacio, L., Gómez-Vélez, J., Martinod, R., Acosta-Pareja, S., Acosta-Pareja, I., Olaya-López, M., . . . García-Giraldo, J. (2026). Towards an Inclusive University Campus: Participatory Diagnosis under Human-Centered Design and Guidelines for the Autonomous Orientation of People with Visual Impairments. Journal of Technologies Information and Communication, 6(1), 45762 . https://doi.org/10.55267/rtic/19164
Vancouver
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: González-Palacio L, Gómez-Vélez J, Martinod R, Acosta-Pareja S, Acosta-Pareja I, Olaya-López M, et al. Towards an Inclusive University Campus: Participatory Diagnosis under Human-Centered Design and Guidelines for the Autonomous Orientation of People with Visual Impairments. Journal of Technologies Information and Communication. 2026;6(1):45762 . https://doi.org/10.55267/rtic/19164
AMA 10th edition
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: González-Palacio L, Gómez-Vélez J, Martinod R, et al. Towards an Inclusive University Campus: Participatory Diagnosis under Human-Centered Design and Guidelines for the Autonomous Orientation of People with Visual Impairments. Journal of Technologies Information and Communication. 2026;6(1), 45762 . https://doi.org/10.55267/rtic/19164
Chicago
In-text citation: (González-Palacio et al., 2026)
Reference: González-Palacio, Liliana, Juan Gómez-Vélez, Ronald Martinod, Sofia Acosta-Pareja, Isabela Acosta-Pareja, Maria Olaya-López, Mauricio González-Palacio, and John García-Giraldo. "Towards an Inclusive University Campus: Participatory Diagnosis under Human-Centered Design and Guidelines for the Autonomous Orientation of People with Visual Impairments". Journal of Technologies Information and Communication 2026 6 no. 1 (2026): 45762 . https://doi.org/10.55267/rtic/19164
Harvard
In-text citation: (González-Palacio et al., 2026)
Reference: González-Palacio, L., Gómez-Vélez, J., Martinod, R., Acosta-Pareja, S., Acosta-Pareja, I., Olaya-López, M., . . . García-Giraldo, J. (2026). Towards an Inclusive University Campus: Participatory Diagnosis under Human-Centered Design and Guidelines for the Autonomous Orientation of People with Visual Impairments. Journal of Technologies Information and Communication, 6(1), 45762 . https://doi.org/10.55267/rtic/19164
MLA
In-text citation: (González-Palacio et al., 2026)
Reference: González-Palacio, Liliana et al. "Towards an Inclusive University Campus: Participatory Diagnosis under Human-Centered Design and Guidelines for the Autonomous Orientation of People with Visual Impairments". Journal of Technologies Information and Communication, vol. 6, no. 1, 2026, 45762 . https://doi.org/10.55267/rtic/19164
ABSTRACT
Autonomous orientation in university campuses represents a critical challenge for people with visual impairments (PVI), whose mobility depends on individual cognitive strategies in environments designed around visual perception. This article presents the results of a diagnosis and empathy phase conducted under a Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach on the campus of Universidad EAFIT (Medellín, Colombia), within the framework of the Alianza 4U project. Through ethnographic fieldwork, observational routes, and semi-structured interviews with four PVI, physical, informational, technological, and attitudinal barriers were identified, along with the cognitive orientation patterns that participants have developed as adaptive responses to their environment. From this diagnosis, six design guidelines were derived to inform the development of accessible orientation solutions in university campuses — situated principles, grounded in the participants' real experience and transferable to other institutional contexts. The findings show that the problem is not the absence of technology but the disconnect between existing solutions and the specific context of use, and that involving PVI from the diagnostic phase is a methodological condition — not merely an ethical one — for producing relevant solutions.
KEYWORDS
Autonomous navigation campus accessibility human-centered design inclusive design participatory research visual impairment.
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