Getting Around: Orientation and Mobility Skills

Orientation and mobility (O&M) skills enable people without good, functional vision to find their way and move about in their homes and communities with minimal or no assistance. They use other people (sighted guides), white canes, guide dogs, and/or other strategies or technology, such as, tactile maps or Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) tools.

For employees with vision loss, O&M skills are critical to their success because they enable them to get to work, safely navigate on-the-job, and return home. O&M skills enable these employees to travel on public or private transportation to get where they need to be (e.g. visiting customers or clients, attending conferences, etc.).  

These are also the skills that enable them to follow prescribed emergency escape routes at work or to routinely find their way around the work environment (e.g. to restrooms, their colleagues’ offices, the cafeteria, break room, etc.).