LoKate It

3D model of the proposed dining hall.

For Kate, a college student who is blind, going to the dining hall is a dreaded experience filled with uncertainty (despite her independence and orientation and mobility skills). With multiple food stations, unpredictable lines, and changing menus, Kate is never sure what or where her food options are. Once Kate manages to get food, she has to locate an empty chair and hope that her hard-won seat is not in the middle of an unwelcoming clique.

LoKate It is our LoTech approach to solve Kate’s dining hall problem through accessible online menus and cultural change. We provide a framework motivated by universal design to make the dining hall experience better for everyone, including people who are visually impaired. The framework includes a universal website template for easily publishing accessible menus and “best practice” layouts of dining halls to encourage social engagement.

We propose that, through changing the layout of dining halls, we can influence how people interact with the space. Two to four long tables that encourage strangers to sit together (but don’t force them to talk if they don’t want to) help foster a more inclusive culture where students aren’t expected to ask permission to sit down.

After LoKate it, Kate can check the menu online before going to the dining hall and know it will be accessible. She can navigate to the different kinds of information using a screenreader that interfaces with the heading levels. The title is at heading level 4, and each meal is heading level 2, each food station that has a separate line is a heading level 3, and each food item is heading level 4 (in the order that they will appear in the dining hall). Images can be navigated by skipping through graphics, and all images have alt text. There she will also find a map that is described thoroughly in alt-text so that she will know which food item is where, and where to go. She can then go to the dining hall and she can choose whether or not to ask people what looks good—she has independence because she knows where everything is. She can then walk over to the seating areas and sit down at the first empty seat she finds at a long table (if she’s got time to chat with others) or at an individual table or small group table (if she’s in a rush or has a meeting). If she’s having trouble finding a seat, one of the many people she’s met by chance in the dining hall before will come say hello and invite her to sit and join the conversation.