How do people who are blind or have low vision navigate their homes?

You may not even notice that you have to manoeuvre around furniture to get from the kitchen to your bedroom, or which light switches you turn on along the way.

What characterises a functional space is not as universal as you may think.

For Abby Jayasuriya, and many others who are blind or have low vision, everyday tasks within her own home require specialised support.

"If you're vision impaired, something as simple as having to walk around your bed and potentially trip over the dog bed, can be a challenge," Ms Jayasuriya said.

This is where Alexa and Duke come into the picture.

Thanks to a collaboration between Guide Dogs and Amazon Alexa, Ms Jayasuriya has been trialling the voice-activated smart home device to navigate her daily routines at home.

"I have Alexa in the living room, office, and my bedroom," Ms Jayasuriya said.

"She's really good for controlling smart appliances."

Ms Jayasuriya can ask Alexa to turn the TV on or off, activate her robot vacuum, dispense a treat for her guide dog Duke, or operate her fan.

"My fan is in the very corner of my bedroom, so I have to walk around my big bed and squeeze between it and my cupboard to get to it."

Now, by simply uttering a command to Alexa, Ms Jayasuriya can turn off the appliance before she even gets out of bed.

She also uses an audio-described at-home workout, which can be paused when Duke decides to get involved.

"It's really descriptive so if you're vision impaired, and don't know how to do one of the moves, it will describe it to you."

A member of Guide Dogs, Ms Jayasuriya is no stranger to the benefits of assistive technology, purposeful design features and, of course, the dogs themselves.

From the very simple, yet highly effective, tactile dots, to the integration of structural pillars into curved benches to minimise obstacles, there are many ways a home can be made more functional for the blind and low vision community.

For the past year, Duke has helped Ms Jayasuriya get from A to B, at home and beyond.

"When they're on harness, they do the best guiding, but with the lead they still retain that training.

"I've taught Duke to find the light switch in my living room. I say "find the switch" and he'll take me to the little section of the wall where the switch is, and I can turn the living area lights on. Then I'm pretty good from there," Ms Jayasuriya said.

At the end of everyday, while Ms Jayasuriya and Duke sleep, Alexa's work is not done.

The smart home device plays ambient "rain on a tent" sounds to ensure a good nights rest.

"I like to have that constant sound going while I'm asleep, as it drowns out all the noise my parents make in the house," Ms Jayasuriya said.

"It makes the household a bit more functional in that aspect as well."