Shortly before my second year of college, I received a few orientation and mobility lessons for learning how to navigate with low vision and a blindness cane. These lessons were helpful for learning general travel skills, but I noticed they didn’t get into specifics about navigating college campuses or using university resources available for students with vision loss. One lesson that would have been really helpful is how to visually identify buildings on campus and more in-depth practice with finding buildings, so I’ve created the College O&M series to share my most-used tips and strategies for learning about this topic and others. Here are my tips for building identification and building a mental map of campus as a student with low vision who uses a blindness cane.
Disclaimer
I am not a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS), and I strongly recommended working with a COMS from the state department for visual impairment or vocational rehabilitation to determine the appropriate mobility solution for individuals. The tips and strategies shared throughout this post are informed by my lived experiences using a blindness cane (white cane) on my college campus.
Touring campus before the first day of class
For students with visual impairments, walking around campus with a COMS is the best way to become familiar with each main area on campus. In addition to working with a COMS or other visual impairment professional, many colleges have opportunities for students to tour campus before the first day of classes. This can include:
- Request a tour through Disability Services. Many disability services offices offer individualized orientation tours for students with visual impairments, sometimes including a stairs-free or accessible route tour.
- Ride the campus shuttle. Riding the campus shuttle and observing various buildings from the window or following along on a GPS application can provide students with a broad overview of campus geography and building locations.
- Use virtual reality campus tours. Many colleges now offer virtual reality or 360° video tours of campus that allow students to preview buildings and routes.
- Ask for a peer mentor. Some disability services offices pair incoming students with trained peer mentors who can walk routes with them before classes begin. Sometimes, disability services or another professor I know will contact me and ask if I can give a walking tour of campus to a new student with a visual impairment.
When available, another helpful resource to consider is campus disability transportation services. If students are approved for this service, they may be able to request a “preview” route so they can become familiar with where their classes are located and where the transportation drop-off/pickup location takes place.
Related links
- Using Disability Transportation Services In College
- Touring Colleges With Virtual Reality
- Touring Colleges With A Blindness Cane: College O&M
- Places Every Visually Impaired Student Should Visit On College Tours
- How To Create A Disability Services File
Learning to identify landmarks on college campuses
When most students think about campus landmarks at my college, things that come to mind often include a bronze statue near the center of campus, the colorful benches outside of the student center, or large buildings like the student center; distinctive areas that are associated with the university. For students with visual impairments learning to navigate college campuses, landmarks are more than just public art or centrally located buildings; they are an essential navigation tool.
A landmark is a familiar object, sound, scent, temperature, or tactile feature that has a known, stable, and precise location in the environment; something that is always there. Landmarks are the anchors of a mental map, and offer definitive points for confirming locations, making turns, and clarifying that a route is working as intended.
Some examples of landmarks that I encounter on my college campus that I use for orientation and mobility purposes include:
- Permanently installed sculptures, statues, and public art
- Fountains
- The texture change from concrete to brick pavers at a building entrance
- Tactile surface changes, like transitions from smooth concrete to brick, grass, or tactile pavement at curb cuts
- Doorways to specific buildings
- Ramps, stairs, or railings
- Changes in terrain or texture when walking on different paths
- Predictable sounds from buildings such as HVAC units or echo effects
- Distinctive building shapes or colors
- Slope changes
Another strategy that helps with identifying buildings is to consider the characteristics of a space and examples of cues that are often present, but may not be there all the time. For example, the sound of crowds near the student center during peak travel times, the poster display in front of a building that is always being updated with new information, and the distinctive smell of a cafe on the third floor of a building can all provide enhanced context about where I am currently located.
Together, I can use these landmarks and characteristics to identify a particular building. For example, I learned to identify my advisor’s building by noticing the downward slope of the sidewalk, tactile pavement at the entrance of the building, the sounds of the bus stop and HVAC unit, and the reflective glass doors, which distinguished it from a neighboring building that was visually similar.
Related links
- How To Schedule College Classes
- College Scheduling Hacks For Students With Chronic Illness
- Walking In The Rain: College O&M
- Walking In The Snow: College O&M
Building a mental map of campus
The biggest thing that helped me with learning how to navigate buildings was to learn each major section of campus and make a list of which buildings were in each section. Living on-campus, I found it helpful to identify the boundaries of the residence hall neighborhoods (groups of dorms) and then divide the campus into zones from there. Here are some practical strategies to develop a mental map of campus:
- Divide campus into zones. Identify 4–6 major areas (e.g., department buildings, residential areas, athletics complex, student services/student center) and learn which buildings belong to each zone before trying to memorize individual buildings. I started with my residential area and the buildings for my departments before getting to know other buildings on campus.
- Walk routes repeatedly. Walk the same route multiple times at different times of day to notice how landmarks and environmental characteristics change, especially details like lighting and noise.
- Preview routes in advance. Before the first day of class, I walk to every building where I have a class scheduled that semester. Freshmen and first-year students can ask their resident advisor to walk with them or ask an older friend or peer mentor.
- Note similar building names. Some buildings have very similar names or nicknames, so it’s important to find a way to distinguish them. For example, there may be a building called SUB 1 and another called SUB 2 in different locations, or students may call buildings a different name (e.g. SUB 2 is known as the HUB).
Related links
- How To Choose A Dorm And Pick College Housing
- Ten Questions to Ask When Choosing a College
- Ten More Questions to Ask When Choosing A College
Using visual features to distinguish buildings
One of the things that helped me learn how to distinguish different buildings was to look at their colors or other distinctive features. This is a helpful strategy for students with low vision, and can include taking notes of visual features such as:
- Color and material. Note the dominant color or building material (red brick, glass facade, white concrete) for each building.
- Shape and silhouette. Even with reduced acuity, the overall shape of a building (a tall tower, a wide low structure, a dome) can be a reliable visual landmark.
- Distinctive features. Look for features like a large clock, a mural, a covered walkway, or a unique entrance canopy.
- Lighting. At night, some buildings have distinctive lighting patterns or illuminated signs that can serve as visual landmarks.
- Contrast. Buildings with high contrast against the sky or surrounding landscape are easier to identify with low vision.
At my college, some buildings also have murals or other large art on the side, which can help even more with making buildings easier to identify. That said, I try not to identify buildings by only a single characteristic (e.g. “the blue one”) and make sure to take note of several building characteristics.
Related links
- How To Write Image Descriptions For Buildings and Architecture
- Lighting And Low Vision
- High Contrast and Low Vision
- Choosing Paint Colors For Low Vision
Bookmark campus addresses
When students give directions on campus, they often use specific buildings as landmarks like the student center, athletics complex, dining halls, or other well-known campus buildings. I found it helpful to bookmark the addresses for these locations on my phone so that I could use them to get directions with GPS applications. I also added locations that I would personally be going to frequently, like the disability services office, assistive technology department, and my dorm building. These were bookmarked as “favorite” locations or saved locations in GPS applications, and I also added my dorm address as a contact so I could find it easily.
Campus addresses may not always be tagged in GPS applications by default, so I found the addresses for several campus locations on the emergency management website. Another strategy I have also used is the free what3words application, which provides 3-meter geocodes that I can use to generate addresses or coordinates that can be used with other GPS or O&M applications.
Related links
- Using GPS Apps On College Campuses: College O&M
- Campus Addresses Every Student Should Know: College O&M
- what3words
Reading signs and identifying buildings with smartphone applications
I often use visual assistance apps for reading signs on campus like Google Lens, Envision, and Microsoft Seeing AI, since these applications can extract text from signs and provide more descriptive information about my surroundings. I can point my phone camera at building entrance signs, room numbers, and directory boards to have them read aloud or displayed in large print directly on my device.
If I don’t need a ton of extra descriptive information from a visual assistance app, I use magnifier applications or use my phone camera to zoom in on text so I can read it more easily. While I don’t use my iPad to identify buildings, I like using the text mode in the iOS Magnifier app to extract text and display it in large print and use this strategy in other contexts.
For users who prefer a human interpreter, services like Be My Eyes (free) and Aira (paid options) can be used to connect students with visual interpreters that can provide information using one-way video and two-way audio; Aira interpreters also have access to indoor and outdoor maps of many college campuses. Since my college is an Aira Access location, students can access the Aira service at no cost.
Disclaimer: I previously received free Aira service through a now-defunct program for college students in 2018/2019 and spoke at an Aira-sponsored event in 2018.
Related links
- All About Visual Assistance Apps For Visually Impaired
- Using Aira With Low Vision
- iOS Magnifier and Low Vision Accessibility
- Finding College Classrooms: College O&M
Using tactile maps on college campuses
While I haven’t personally used this strategy, several of my friends have benefitted from having tactile maps printed of different clusters on campus, since it helps them preview the spatial layout of a space before they navigate it. I recommend printing out maps of small clusters on campus instead of one giant map of campus, which can be overwhelming. Some examples of areas to have on a tactile map include:
- Dorm and surrounding area
- Department building(s)
- Student center and surrounding area
- Other popular buildings on campus, such as the library, athletic complex, or other places where students travel frequently
Resources for obtaining tactile maps include:
- TMAP program through San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind (can be printed for any location)
- Free tactile mapping software like Touch Mapper
- Disability services or assistive technology office; colleges may already have tactile maps available
Related links
- Accessible Maps and Wayfinding Tools For Low Vision
- TMAP – LightHouse MAD Lab
- Tactile Maps Easily | Touch Mapper
What about campus construction?
At my college, the unofficial mascot is the construction crane; there is always something new being built on campus! This can sometimes impact how I identify buildings, especially if construction equipment blocks landmarks or if it introduces new characteristics to a space such as noise. This can also introduce new hazards such as uneven surfaces, temporary fencing, and reduced lighting. Students who use a blindness cane should be especially cautious in construction areas, as temporary barriers may not be immediately obvious.
I have an entire post about navigating campus construction, but a short list of practical strategies to consider include:
- Sign up for campus accessibility alerts. Many universities send email or text notifications about construction affecting accessible routes. Check with disability services or facilities management to get on these lists.
- Identify alternative routes in advance. Always learn more than one route to get to a building.
- Use visual assistance applications for real-time assistance, or consider using another person (human guide) to help with navigating complex routes
Students have the right to accessible routes under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), though it is important that students learn to identify multiple routes or ways to travel to a specific building. While I definitely have preferred routes for navigating my college campuses, I also try to learn at least two other ways to get to a building, with some of my “backup” routes incorporating services like campus shuttles.
Related links
- Navigating Campus Construction: College O&M
- How To Be An Effective Human Guide For People With Vision Loss
More tips for identifying buildings on college campuses
- Need help identifying dorms? Read Dorms and Campus Housing: College O&M
- When I was in a different major, I traveled to the satellite campus for some of my classes and often used the bus stop as a landmark for navigation. Learn more in Satellite Campuses: College O&M
- To get an orientation and mobility referral for college or request funding assistance, I recommend checking out Vocational Rehabilitation for College Students
Published November 18, 2019. Updated April 2026