Research predicts that 196 million people will be diagnosed with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) by 2020. People who experience AMD and other vision loss face barriers that affect their Quality of Life (QoL). People experience only modest improvement from technologies (e.g., screen readers, CCTV), tools (e.g., magnifying glasses, tactile buttons), and human help (e.g., friends, blindness organizations). Further, there are issues to accessing these resources based on one's place of residence. To explore these challenges and determine design implications to support people who have experienced vision loss (PVL), we conducted a qualitative semi-structured interview study exploring QoL with 10 PVL. We uncovered themes of supporting creative work, recognizing the impact of one's living in a non-urban setting on QoL, and increasing efficiency at accomplishing tasks. We motivate the inclusion of PVL in the design process because they learned skills while sighted and are now low vision or blind.

Access to a variety of exercises is important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This variety includes physical activity in public spaces. A 400-meter jogging track is not accessible because it provides solely visual cues for people to remain in their lane. As a first step toward making exercise spaces accessible, we conducted an ecologically valid Wizard of Oz study to compare the accuracy and user experience of human guide, verbal, wrist vibration, and head beat feedback while people walked around the track. The technology conditions did not affect accuracy, but the order of preference was human guide, verbal, wrist vibration, and head beat. Participants had a difficult time perceiving vibrations when holding their cane or guide dog, and lower frequency sounds made it difficult to focus on their existing navigation strategies.