Audio-Described Restrooms

NaviLens code on a restroom sign

Audio-described restrooms for the blind and visually impaired.

NaviLens programmable codes posted outside public restrooms can make them easier to find and allow blind users to privately hear an audio description of a restroom's layout before entering it. Such codes could supplement or replace free NaviLens kit codes that help people who are blind or visually impaired find restrooms (see Free Kit codes). Try It! Scan the NaviLens code below using the NaviLens app:

1. If you are viewing this post on your smartphone, please display it on a computer, tablet, or second phone.

2. Scan the NaviLens code using the NaviLens app.

3. Listen to a description of a restroom in your smartphone's language.

In this example, NaviLens displays and speaks: "Girls' restroom: Go left to find 3 stalls. The one furthest away from the door is a wheelchair-accessible stall. You can tell which one it is by the curtains. To find the sink, go past the curtain, turn left, and you'll find it on the wall. To find a paper towel dispenser, turn right from the sink and look for a wall. Follow that wall to your right. A trash can is just to the right of the paper towel dispenser."

Update - 2025: NaviLens now offers a free downloadable NaviLens Bathroom Kit for use in single-person public restrooms. This kit provides a set of high-contrast, scannable QR-style tags designed for visually impaired users to independently locate and identify restroom features like sinks, toilets, and baby changing tables. Partnered with Throne Labs and Cushelle, these tags can be read from a distance without focusing, offering audio, text, or haptic guidance through the NaviLens app. Learn more from this Throne Labs press release.

Questions:

1. If you're blind, would you like to be able to listen privately to the layout of a public restroom before you enter it? Or are you okay with using your cane or guide dog to find your way around as you've always done?

   
   

2. If you're sighted like I am, what would your experience be like if you had to use a public restroom in complete darkness? Oh, right. You and I would likely "cheat" and get out our smartphones, temporarily use our flashlights to find our way around. But if you're blind, a flashlight wouldn't help you. Even though there are AI apps or smart glasses that could help, they'd involve using smartphone cameras, which are not permitted in restrooms.