Visually impaired pedestrians differ greatly in their abilities to travel. The travel abilities of most of them lie between extraordinary competence and marginal competence. Environmental clues that are usable by the visually impaired could be intentionally provided to reduce difficulties and dangers facing these pedestrians. One of these clues is in the use of detectable, special walkway surfaces to inform or alert visually impaired pedestrians. The purpose of this paper is to test responses to a range of materials. Of special interest are textured surfaces which can be laid on existing sidewalks and walkways. Another countermeasure which is described is the textured furniture strip. The usefulness of this special surface applied to a certain portion of the sidewalk as a directional clue for the visually impaired is evaluated. For the covering abstract see IRRD 253224.
Samenvatting