How Blind Commuters Navigate NYC’s Streets and Subways

Stepping off the 2 subway at Wall Street on September 10, 2015, Sharon McLennon Wier performed her usual rundown of sensory tasks: She listened for everyone to leave the train, stepped down on the narrow platform below her feet, and maneuvered toward the exit, using her white cane to probe for obstructions as she made her way for the stairway. Then she fell.

“I found out later the particular platform at that time had tactile striping, but it wasn’t the correct one,” said McLennon Wier, now the executive director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled, or CIDNY. “In ...