Week 8: Mapping Existing Airport Accessibility and Technology

Week 8

Identifying barriers and examining design already used for independent, international autistic travellers using air travel? (exploring technology).

Existing Design and Technology for Autistic Air Travel

Introduction

The first research thread examines what is already being designed to support autistic passengers through air travel, particularly technologies and services that increase predictability, reduce sensory pressure and enable greater independence.

Current provision is much wider than I initially expected. Airports already use visual guides, sensory spaces, hidden-disability identification, familiarisation programmes, priority routes, digital tools and even virtual reality. However, these interventions are often separate additions rather than one connected passenger experience. Recent autistic-led airport research similarly argues that accessibility needs to combine environmental, sensory, communication and wayfinding improvements rather than relying on a single accommodation.

What Already Exists?

| Design / Technology | Existing Examples | What It Addresses | Limitation / Opportunity |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Hidden Disability Identification | The Sunflower scheme is now recognised across hundreds of airports internationally. | Allows someone to discreetly indicate that they may need extra time, patience or assistance. | It identifies a need but does not explain what the individual actually needs. |
| Visual Guides & Social Stories | British Airways provides a visual guide covering sights, sounds and smells; YVR provides a step-by-step storybook, checklist and airport map; Gold Coast Airport offers written and video Social Stories. | Makes an unfamiliar journey more predictable before arrival. | Usually static information and therefore cannot respond to delays, queues or gate changes. |
| Airport Familiarisation | Heathrow's Flight Ready Programme allows autistic passengers to experience the airport before travelling. Wings for Autism/All recreates check-in, security, waiting and boarding. | Allows passengers to practise unfamiliar processes in advance. | Requires physical access to the airport and often runs only at particular times. |
| Virtual Reality Rehearsal | Research has tested narrated virtual airport training with autistic participants to teach air-travel and communication skills. | Allows airport processes to be experienced repeatedly in a controlled environment. | Evidence is promising but small-scale; it is not yet a standard passenger service. |
| Sensory / Quiet Spaces | Gatwick, Bristol, Shannon, Dublin, Manchester and DXB are among airports providing sensory or low-stimulation spaces. | Provides somewhere to regulate after sensory overload. | Often treats overload after it occurs rather than preventing it throughout the journey. |
| Priority / Autism-Friendly Routes | DXB offers a Sunflower route through check-in, passport control, security and boarding; Dublin's Important Flyer programme can provide Fast Track access. | Reduces queues, uncertainty and time spent in overwhelming spaces. | Availability and eligibility differ significantly between airports. |
| Staff-Supported Accessibility | DXB has expanded autism-inclusive training across approximately 45,000 airport-community employees; YVR also trains staff with neurodiversity organisations. | Improves communication and reduces the risk of needs being misunderstood. | Support still depends on consistency between staff, airlines and airports. |
| AI / Personalised Travel Planning | The CARES research project has explored an AI-supported tourism planner designed around autistic adults, including personalised information and reduced information overload. | Could support autonomy, planning and personalised information. | The research is early and concerns wider tourism rather than an airport-specific end-to-end system. |

VR and the Airport Rehearsal Idea

This is particularly relevant to my earlier idea of allowing somebody to practise an airport before travelling. Miller et al. explored virtual-reality air-travel training with autistic individuals. The system presented a narrated virtual airport tour intended to teach the stages and communication skills associated with flying. Physical versions already exist. Wings for Autism / Wings for All allows participants to:

check in
receive a boarding pass
pass through security
wait at the gate
board an aircraft

without the aircraft actually departing. Importantly, the programme also allows airport, airline and security staff to learn from passengers themselves. This shows that rehearsal is already considered useful within accessible air travel.

The research question is therefore not: “Could I invent airport rehearsal?” It becomes: Could existing rehearsal approaches become more personalised, accessible and connected to the real journey? That is a much more useful design question.

Sensory Design

Sensory rooms are one of the most visible autism-friendly airport interventions, but recent research suggests accessibility cannot simply mean placing one quiet room inside an otherwise overwhelming airport.

Autistic-led assessments across six Australian airports identified problems around noise, lighting, crowds, communication and wayfinding. Recommendations included quieter spaces, softer or natural lighting, clearer visual information and more accessible communication.

Research with autistic adults in public spaces also found that sensory experiences are strongly connected to predictability: uncertainty can make difficult sensory environments considerably harder to manage. Therefore, good sensory design is not simply: “Give someone somewhere quiet.” It is also: help them anticipate what they will encounter.

Wayfinding and Information Design

Wayfinding is especially relevant to my role as a graphic designer. Autistic-led airport research specifically identifies clearer visual aids, communication and navigation as areas for improvement. This expands wayfinding beyond signs. Potential information touchpoints include:

Before travel → Arrival → Check-in → Security → Departures → Gate → Boarding → Aircraft → Arrival airport

The design opportunity may therefore involve coordinating physical signage, digital information, live information and accessible preparation, rather than designing one isolated map or application.

The Problem With Existing Technology

Across the research, I can identify five recurring weaknesses:

1. Fragmentation

One airport may offer a Sunflower lanyard, another a sensory room and another a visual guide. The passenger has to investigate each airport individually. The 2026 air-accessibility literature identifies inconsistency between policies and procedures as an ongoing problem.

2. Static information

PDF guides and Social Stories can increase predictability but cannot respond when the actual experience changes.

3. Reactive rather than preventative support

A sensory room helps once someone is overwhelmed. Better UX might reduce the likelihood of that overload developing.

4. Heavy focus on children and families

A substantial amount of autism-and-air-travel research and many preparation resources remain framed around children or caregivers rather than adults travelling independently.

5. Lack of personalisation

Autistic passengers do not all require the same intervention. Current services often provide a standard accommodation rather than support that adapts to an individual's sensory, communication or information needs.

Who Actually Designs These Experiences?

This research also helped identify the professional design roles surrounding passenger accessibility.

UX / Product Designer

Designs airline and airport websites, apps, booking journeys, digital information and interfaces. TUI describes its UX designers as using customer research to move from user insight through concepts and interactive prototypes.

Service / Passenger Experience Designer

Looks at the entire journey across multiple touchpoints rather than one interface.

User Researcher

Investigates passenger behaviour and accessibility needs before solutions are developed.

Accessibility / Inclusive Designer

Ensures services and interfaces accommodate different physical, sensory and cognitive requirements.

Wayfinding / Environmental Graphic Designer

Designs signage, navigation systems and information across large environments. PriestmanGoode, for example, has a specialist graphics team working on signage and wayfinding for airports and other transport environments.

This places my project much closer to UX, service design and passenger experience than simply producing a graphic-design artefact.

What This Means for My Project

The technology already exists to: prepare passengers, identify support needs, rehearse journeys, navigate airports, reduce sensory overload, and personalise information.

The larger opportunity may therefore be connecting these things. Rather than immediately deciding to design an app, VR experience or wayfinding system, my next research needs to ask:

Where does the current passenger experience break down, despite all of these existing interventions?

That gap should determine the eventual outcome.

Key Sources + Links

The gap does not appear to be a complete absence of accessibility design. It is the lack of a consistent, personalised and connected experience across the whole journey.