what things are important to deaf people in cities
For a person with macerated or no vision or hearing, the outset steps to a livable customs are literally safe steps. Being able to securely navigate sidewalks, cross streets and ride public transportation are keys to independence and mobility. Public spaces that take the varied needs of visitors into business relationship empower and encourage all sorts of people to exit and about.
Following are some tools and technologies communities can utilise to help see the needs of people of all ages and abilities. (When you're done checking out the helpful solutions, below, learn nearly some of the Old and New Challenges for People with Vision and Hearing Impairments.)
Photo courtesy city of Charlotte
The metropolis of Charlotte, Due north.C., used sense of humour in an ad campaign telling residents to remove obstructions from the sidewalk and so pedestrians can safely navigate the metropolis.
Obstacle-Complimentary Sidewalks
Whether someone is vision-impaired, signing as they talk, pushing a stroller or running, it'due south tough to weave through an obstacle class of trash cans and sidewalk debris.
In Charlotte, Northward Carolina, a humorous ad campaign launched in 2013 educated residents about the hazards of leaving trash cans in the sidewalk, says Terry Bradley, Charlotte's communications managing director and Americans with Disabilities Deed (ADA) coordinator. The city works with utilities to brand certain new poles aren't placed in the eye of the sidewalk. In addition, the city known for its tree-lined streets has moved abroad from planting trees in the sidewalk, says Bradley: "Nosotros took a unified approach, showing how when you assist any one grouping, it helps anybody."
Photo from PassCoalition.org
An accessible pedestrian signal (APS) in New York City.
Attainable Pedestrian Signals
Pedestrian crosswalk signals that talk and vibrate accept the guesswork out of crossing the street and are a big step upwards from the signals that rely on chirps and cuckoos to betoken when a street is safety to cross.
An accessible pedestrian betoken (APS) provides information in audible tones, exact letters and/or vibrating surfaces so a pedestrian with vision loss can not but know that the "Walk" signal is on for crossing an intersection, simply exactly which direction is safety.
For case, when a pedestrian pushes the "Walk" push button, a voice will come on and, for example, say in New York City, "Now waiting to cross Broadway at West 23rd Street." When the "Walk" sign illuminates, the button vibrates and a directional arrow lines upwards with the crosswalk so a visually impaired person can safely step forward. Charlotte, San Antonio and Kansas City, Missouri, are amidst the many cities installing these types of crosswalk signals.
"It makes such a difference in and then many people's lives," says Neva Fairchild, an independent living and employment specialist for the American Foundation for the Bullheaded.
Photo courtesy the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired and the metropolis of Kansas City, Missouri
In May 2016 students with vision impairment got to exam-bulldoze Kansas Urban center's new streetcar arrangement.
A Streetcar Named Accessible
Kansas Urban center, Missouri, debuted its new streetcar system in May. Earlier the official opening kindergarteners from the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired got a preview exam ride to see how like shooting fish in a barrel the arrangement is to navigate.
The KC Streetcar offers level boarding at all of its stops, so information technology'southward friendly for wheelchairs, bicycles, babe strollers and anything with wheels. Kiosks at stops are within ADA attain ranges and take push button buttons for contacting a live customer service person. A headphone jack next to the button enables users to take a quieter, more than private chat. Touchscreens on the kiosks scroll with the low-cal brush of a finger.
Photo courtesy Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
An overlook near the Braille Trail provides an opportunity to feel the Charles River by line-fishing or listening to the water catamenia.
The Braille Trail
The quarter-mile Braille Trail in Watertown, Massachusetts, enables people with impaired vision to walk along the Charles River without any help. (That ways no companion, guide dog or cane needed.) Instead, a guide wire with different kinds of beads distributed along it indicates the presence nearby of features such as signage and benches.
The guided walk has ten interpretative displays that are written in both visual words and Braille. A sensory garden contains stone walls that people can climb on and ii boats where people tin sit. A musical marimba-fashion bench allows visitors to strike wooden slats to play music. An overlook provides an opportunity to experience the Charles River by angling or listening to the water menstruation.
The trail, which is located only ii blocks from the Perkins School for the Bullheaded, is part of the Watertown Riverfront Park and involved planning with Perkins, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and local groups.
"It's really liberating for someone who is bullheaded to have the opportunity, without holding a dog or a pikestaff, to exist in nature 1-on-1," says Kim Charlson, director of the Braille and Talking Books Library at Perkins. To further inclusion and counter the marginalization of people who are blind, the Perkins School hosts a website for the sighted chosen BlindNewWorld.
Photograph courtesy Gallaudet University
Wider sidewalks, such as this one at Gallaudet University, the earth'due south only academy designed specifically for students who are deaf, are more useful and safer for people of all ages and abilities.
Wide Sidewalks
For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, the platonic sidewalk is nine or ten feet wide, which is three times wider than the three-human foot sidewalks built 50 years agone, says Hansel Bauman, architect and executive manager of campus design and construction at the Washington, D.C.-based Gallaudet University, which is the world's only university designed to be bulwark-costless for students who are deaf.
That extra width, which exceeds the guidelines in the Americans with Disabilities Deed, gives people more room to speak in sign linguistic communication and watch 1 another equally they walk together, Bauman says.
Photo by Ron Bailey/iStock Photos
Detectable warnings, besides called "truncated domes" or "tactile paving," are used on sidewalks to signal that the adjacent steps will exist into the street.
Skilful Bumps in The Road
Detectable warnings, too called "truncated domes" or "tactile paving," are tiled, bumpy squares that are placed before the edge of the sidewalk to betoken that the next steps will be into the street.
Detectable warnings are a standard nether Public Rights of Style Guidelines and will likely become the ADA standard in the future, says Meg Conger, ADA compliance manager in Kansas City, Missouri.
"Information technology's important for someone with sight impairment to know when they're leaving the sidewalk or right of way and are near to step into traffic," Conger says.
The bumpy pavement warning is also helpful to people who are speaking in sign language equally they walk, says Gallaudet'due south Hansel Bauman: "People can sense they're getting close to the edge of the sidewalk without having to look away from their conversation."
Photo by David LeShay, Theatre Evolution Fund
The musical "Jersey Boys" featured a simultaneously open-captioned and signed performance on Broadway.
Accessible Theaters
Theatre Access NYC is breaking through the sound and sight bulwark to enable people with vision and hearing loss or impairments to enjoy shows on Broadway, says David LeShay, manager of marketing and public relations at Theatre Evolution Fund.
The group'south website (theatreaccess.nyc) helps theatergoers discover venues and shows that regularly provide assistive technologies including I-Explanation units (handheld closed caption devices), assistive listening devices (headphone units that amplify the sound onstage), open-captioned performances, sign language interpreted performances and D-scriptive audio devices that provide a detailed account of all onstage activity.
Karen Haywood Queen is a freelance writer and former Associated Press (AP) reporter whose articles have appeared in AARP Bulletin, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and other publications.
Stay Informed — For Free!
The weekly, accolade-winning AARP Livable Communities e-Newsletter provides local leaders with data and inspiration for making their town, urban center or neighborhood more livable for older adults and people of all ages.Subscribe today!
Source: https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/getting-around/info-2016/community-livability-for-people-who-are-blind-or-deaf.html
0 Response to "what things are important to deaf people in cities"
Post a Comment