Navigating the Last Decade: A Systematic Literature Review on Accessible Georeferencing Mobile Apps

Abstract

Over the last few decades, mobile digital wayfinding apps have emerged to support society in its urban mobility. However, there is a need to understand how digital accessibility is integrated into these technologies, as the absence of this quality criterion can negatively affect the autonomy and safety of people with disabilities. This study aims to identify the accessibility resources implemented in accessible georeferencing mobile apps, beyond identifying the people with disabilities who benefit from them and the usage context in which the apps are utilized. To meet the objectives, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) over the last decade based on four research questions: 1) What accessible resources are implemented in georeferencing apps? 2) Who benefits from the accessible resources implemented in georeferencing apps? 3) How are the accessible resources of georeferencing apps guaranteed? and 4) In which usage contexts do people with disabilities use these georeferencing apps?. As a result, it was observed that primary studies primarily aimed to serve people with visual impairments, specifically by providing resources for recording georeferenced accessibility data. SLR contributions support software developers and Human-Computer Interaction researchers in developing mobile georeferencing apps that serve PwD in spatial awareness, while also guiding them in understanding the validation artifacts and context of use that have been studied in the last decade. As a primary highlight, our research identified a set of 59 accessibility features implemented in georeferencing apps, to our knowledge, the first time such a finding has been made.