Author: Jane Bringolf

Accessible Pedestrian Signals

A street with a pedestrian crossing in a city. Accessible pedestrian signals.Accessible pedestrian signals are evolving. Audible crossing signals devised for people with low vision are a signal for all of us that it’s safe to cross the road.  And now we have the “guiding sound corridor” which gives increased guidance to reach the other side more easily. As soon as a pedestrian activates the signal, the guiding sound corridor emits at both ends of the crossing. Then they just have to follow the sound to cross the street. It gives greater safety and independence because the signal ensures they are going in the right direction.  

An article in the Inclusive City Maker blog explains the system. From a city planner perspective, this kind of device can encourage more walking for people with low vision and their companions.

How does it work?

The blog post explains that a guiding sound corridor needs to have 3 elements to be perfectly efficient:

      1. Poles with the accessible pedestrian signals (APS) need to be located face to face, on the same side of the crossing.
      2. The broadcast emitted by the audible pedestrian signals need to be led towards the crossing,
      3. Activation of the APS needs to be simultaneous –  both sides of the crossing are synchronized and paired.

A pole with a pedestrian signal button and instructions. A video on the blog site illustrates how it works.

Workplaces: Lessons from the pandemic

Graphic showing a laptop computer screen with coloured squares each with a face of a person. Workplaces: lessons from the pandemic.The pandemic has shown that workplaces can be almost anywhere. People who previously experienced physical barriers to workplaces found working online from home a blessing. But that doesn’t mean employers and managers don’t have to worry about accessibility and inclusion any more. Hybrid working where some staff are onsite and others online is where there are a few problems to solve. G3ict has some workplace lessons from the pandemic to share. 

Creating an inclusive workplace means catering for equity and accessibility in physical and virtual spaces. Platforms such as Zoom evolved quickly and now include automatic captioning for meetings and webinars. But there are additional things to consider in hybrid settings where some participants are online and others are in the conference room. 

Many conference rooms now include technology to accommodate hybrid meetings, but there is more to do. We need protocols around seating, placement of a sign language interpreter, captioning and the ability to use the “chat” function.  

Including people with disability – some tips

Including people with disability – and you might not know they have one – requires an approach that allows for equity and dignity. For example, a person should not have to ask for captioning to be enabled. If they have to ask they probably won’t because they don’t want to be singled out. If the captioning is clear, and AI captioning can be patchy, it’s good when sound is distorted or digitised. 

Not everyone will be viewing on a large screen, so presentation slides should allow for this. Large text with good colour contrast will ensure a higher level of readability for all. Not all vision conditions can be solved with glasses so it help people with low vision too.

Head and shoulders of James Thurston. He is wearing a light blue shirt and glasses and smiling to the camera.
James Thurston

The G3ict blog post discusses other details such as workplace furniture and products. Even fabric textures, patterns and colour contrasts can affect some people.  As the blog says:

“There is no handbook on how to create a fully accessible hybrid workplace, but engaging staff from a cross-disability perspective for ideas and product testing on both the physical and virtual side is critically important.”

“Set-backs in your plans should not be seen as failures but rather learning opportunities to move you towards a workplace that is accessible, inclusive and functional for everyone because truly hitting a “reset button” is not a singular action but a journey we must all be on together.”

When home is the workplace

A woman is sitting at a dining table typing on her laptop. When home is the workplace.Computers and internet provided the opportunity for some people to occasionally work from home. That was pre-Covid-19 when Home was still Home. But now Home is the workplace as well as home. It’s also been a place for education, long day care, and a place to stay safe. For some, home is all four at once: workplace, school, childcare centre and safe haven. Open spaces have taken on an increased value as a means of escape from the same four walls. But not everyone has easy access to open space, public or private.

Our homes were never designed for any of this. Not on a long-term basis anyway. Then there are the institutional homes – the aged care industry has not fared well in providing a sense of home for its residents. So we need a complete re-think about what it means to be “going to work at home”. 

A paper from Ireland looks at the impact of the pandemic on everyday lives and the need to adapt the built environment. The authors argue that: 

“There is now a key opportunity to implement universal design, to allow the best possible use of space, to enable everyone to live, work and socialise safely and equally.”

The authors discuss issues related to the public realm, housing design, and green infrastructure, and access for people with disability. They conclude that the pause mode caused by Covid-19 gives an opportunity to improve the lives of city dwellers. 

The title of the paper is, The impact of Covid-19 on our relationship with the built environment. 

From the abstract:

This article aims to explore the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the built environment in Ireland. It considers how our homes might suit the future needs of all citizens, particularly the needs of the most vulnerable members of society.

The growth in ‘working from home’ has highlighted architectural issues such as space within the home and the local community, as well as the importance of public and private open space. Covid-19 has exposed the most vulnerable, and the nursing home model is under scrutiny and will need to be addressed. 

The Covid-19 pandemic offers the potential for architects to provide a vision of a built environment that addresses biosecurity issues, accessibility and climate change. Architects need to re-purpose towns, villages, and urban areas, and develop new housing typologies which will integrate living and working within the one dwelling, and promote a sense of community in local neighbourhoods. Adaptable, flexible buildings alongside usable and accessible public spaces are necessary to meet change.

Access Statement for The Kelpies in Scotland

Giant silver coloured horse head sculptures depicting mythical Kelpies in a new parkland. Visitors can see the access statement for the Kelpies for information before their visit. The Kelpies are 30 metre-high horse-head sculptures in a new parkland area near Falkirk, Scotland. The project connects 16 communities in the council area and the Clyde Canal. The sculptures attract many visitors to The Helix site and the whole project was designed with access and inclusion in mind. This is apparent in the Access Statement for the Kelpies – a good guide for all visitors. And a good example for others devising a similar guide. The Access Statement for The Helix and the Kelpie sculptures uses plain language and lots of photos. The photos show key places such as car parking, the visitor centre, playground, café and toilets. Visitors can hire manual wheelchairs and dog bowls are provided for assistance dogs.  The Access Statement is not an overarching policy document. It is a visitor guide that includes information about the level of access visitors can expect. One of the best examples of visitor access information – makes it good for everyone. There is more information about this destination and how to get there on the Accessible Travel Online Scotland website. Accessible Travel Scotland also has an accessible travel hub. The video below provides more information about The Kelpies, the largest public artworks in Scotland. It explains the story behind the sculptures and their construction. 

Australia’s national accessible parks policy

Accessible parks policy | NSW Environment and Heritage Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy our national parks. The personal benefits include increased wellbeing and improved quality of life. But not everyone can access these parks. The new Accessible Parks Policy published by the New South Wales Government should go some way to addressing the barriers.  The policy aims to provide a framework for improving access by integrating accessibility into the planning and management of parks. But once again, we have a document professing to promote access and inclusion yet universal design is tacked on at the end as if it is an optional extra rather than an underpinning concept.   

Guiding principles

In brief, the National Parks Service recognises:
    • the health and wellbeing benefits 
    • cultural and historic heritage can present a range of barriers 
    • barriers to accessing national parks may have compounding impacts on Aboriginal people
    • disability is diverse and may not be visible to others
    • good information is critical to empowering people with disability 
    • the inclusion of people with disability in the planning and decision-making process
    • people who experience barriers to access should have the opportunity to participate in finding solutions to those barriers
    • accessible facilities or experiences in national parks are only one component of the whole visitor journey
    • it will not always be feasible to provide physical access to national parks for all people.

Commitments

In brief, the National Parks Service will:
    • identify and aim to remove barriers to services, facilities and experiences 
    • identify and remove barriers to people engaging and collaborating with the management of national parks and reserves
    • engage and consult with those experiencing barriers in accessing national parks, visitor facilities and visitor experiences
    • where possible, apply the principles of universal design
The webpage has different policy sections for visitor facilities, information, collaborating, and decision making.  Connection to Country is not included in this policy as there is a separate policy document. Perhaps as some point the Department of Planning will take a universal design approach which embraces intersectionality. That is, First Nations people also have disabilities and specific access requirements.   

Good design for transport in Victoria

Station concourse at West Footscray shows striped shadows on the floor from the large windows. A cyclist is the only person in the picture.
From the guide: photographer Peter Bennetts

Getting out and about easily contributes to our wellbeing, health and productivity. And well designed transport facilities, interchanges and connections add value to public places. The Office of the Victorian Government Architect is promoting good design for transport as a public benefit.  When it comes to pubic transport, it needs to be safe, accessible and easy to use. Good design can also transform and influence how people feel and behave in public settings. 

The Office of the Victorian Government Architect has a Good Design + Transport guide that covers heritage, legislation, good design principles, and key steps. 

While the key steps don’t mention disability access specifically, the Government procurement processes require a universal design approach. The key steps for design include collaboration and community engagement as well as land use and urban connections. Community input at the early stages is listed as a good design strategy. 

The other important advice is to review designs in the early stages and throughout the design process. This aligns with universal design principles and results in fewer costly mistakes. 

Good Design Principles

Good Design + Transport lists good design principles as functional, enduring, sustainable and enjoyable. These principles provide guidance and a framework. 

Functional

      • Safe, legible – understandable, feels safe and secure, with good visual links and strong passive surveillance. The built form is clear and way-finding is carefully considered as part of the project.
      • Seamless – a cohesive and linked network which is easy to understand and navigate. It integrates different transport modes, providing direct connections and easy transitions.
      • Universally inclusive – main access routes are obvious and accessible to all members of the community.
      • Walkable – support pathways and useable public space which prioritises pedestrian connections and links into local streets.

Enduring

Relevant across life-spans of many generations and representative of its time and of high quality.

      • Durable – easy to maintain and will age gracefully.

Sustainable

Promote positive environmental, social, cultural and economic values. 

      • Engaging – reflect and respond to diverse community values and encourage positive interaction.
      • Socially responsive – support community land aspirations of a place connecting nearby facilities, incorporating shops, art, recreation spaces.
      • Site responsive – respond to specific local conditions inclusive of built form, landscape, topography and orientation.
      • Valuing heritage – respond to history, memory, understanding of and continuity with the past.

Enjoyable

Create a desire to experience the journey rather than just pass through.

      • Delightful – authentic, sensitive and intelligent in design of form, space, proportion, craft and detail.

Victoria also has an Accessible Public Transport Action Plan which designers should also reference in their designs. It supports their Absolutely Everyone state disability plan. 

Editor’s comment: Note in the picture above the stripes caused by the sun coming in the behind the many upright struts. These stripes cause confusion for people who have difficulties with visual perception. That includes people with dementia who don’t know where to step, and people who see this as “visual noise”. 

 

AI for captioning

A speaker stands at a lectern and captioning sceen is behind his right shoulder
Dedicated captioning screen close to the speaker.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can take captioning to another level claims Microsoft. AI for automatic speech recognition removes the need for a human captioner for lectures in universities and elsewhere. The Microsoft AI blog article and video below focuses on deaf students, but more people are taking to captioning on their phones for convenience.

Captioning helps all students by adding another layer of communication and this point is made in the article. The captioning is turned into transcripts and students have a reference to read after the lecture. They can also have the lecture automatically translated into several languages.

This is a detailed article and covers automatic speech recognition, translations, and a growing demand for accessibility. This technology is not expected to take over from Auslan or ASL as they are languages in their own right. However, this is another example of how technology is helping humans by taking over from humans and bringing the advantages to more people.  

Note on the image at the top: The image shows Dr Ger Craddock at the inaugural Australian Universal Design Conference in 2014. A captioner sat in the room to caption real time. Speaker names and place names were given to the captioner beforehand to prevent errors.

 

Car-free zones: good for everyone?

five lane city highway full of cars.. We need car free zones.Discussion about the benefit of electric versus fossil fuel vehicles will go on for some time. Regardless of the propulsion method, roads take up a lot of our land and environment. Case studies of road closures in favour of pedestrians, are appearing regularly in the literature. The aim of these car-free zones is to give more space to people to move around by walking and cycling. But not everyone can ride a bike or use public transport and this group is probably bigger than we think.  Climate activists are keen to reduce the number of cars on our roads whether electric or not. An article on the World Economic Forum website discusses the issues with just one sentence about people with disability. This is going to be a major issue if climate activists forget diversity and disability.  There are more people with mobility issues than most people think. Some are not in the disability statistics because they fall under long term health conditions. Then there are non-physical reasons for using cars.  Personal vehicles are treated as personal safety devices by people who are physically frail of have a psychosocial condition. That also means they don’t like taxis or car share. People who become blind and have not learned the ways of public transport will use taxis and ride share to drop them exactly where they need to go. Public transport still has gender issues too. 

Cars are still mobility devices

With uneven or absent footpaths, older people begin to feel unsafe and then the car becomes a mobility device. When they cannot drive, they prefer a family member to drive them to the shops and medical appointments. That’s partly because they haven’t used public transport in the past and/or don’t feel safe.  And cycling with the week’s shopping after picking up a child from school or child care is not an option for many parents. The title of the article is, Are cars an urban design flaw? Cities advance car-free zones. The article presents case studies across Europe in the quest to reduce road space and increase living space. And car-free doesn’t mean pedestrian only – it means cyclists can mingle with pedestrians. For people with hearing or sight impairments, or people unsteady on their feet, this is not helpful.  The city of Oslo is increasing their car free zones, but are making sure people who need to use a car are catered for. 

Accessible nature

A rocky mountain scene from the Atacama Desert in Chile. This was not accessible nature. Photo by Jane Bringolf
Valle de Luna, Atacama, Chile
Are ableist views preventing the tourism and recreation sectors from being accessible and inclusive? This is a question arising from a scoping review of policies, practices and infrastructure related to nature-based settings. The review found many barriers were related to operator or designer assumptions about the value of the experience for people with different disabilities. Access standards are yet to catch up with the concept of “accessible nature”. Assuming blind people can’t appreciate a view, for example, are embedded in systems and processes. Consequently, access barriers are created albeit unintentionally.  But other barriers exist such as threats to conservation values that say, a footpath could impose. When creating built structures, it’s important to consider the negative impacts on both social and ecological aspects. A more worrying view is that it is not safe for people with disability to experience certain landscapes. This perpetuates organisational notions that people with disability need extra care or special settings. Or that people with disability can’t or don’t experience nature in the same way as non-disabled people. 

From the conclusions

Ableist views are embedded and perpetuated in the tourism and recreation cultures which create unnecessary access barriers. The authors conclude there is a pressing need for specific standards for nature-based tourism and recreation spaces. When developing such standards people should ensure they are not underpinned by ableist views. It’s important for everyone to have easy access to the experiences nature offers. The title of the scoping review is, Accessible nature beyond city limits – A scoping review. The authors are based in Canada.

From the abstract

Not everyone gets to experience the benefits of interacting with nature. Focusing on access for persons with disability, we systematically examined research on the accessibility of nature-based tourism and recreation spaces outside of urban/community settings. This study sought to examine policies, services, physical infrastructures, and regulatory standards intended to enable equitable use of nature-based settings by individuals of all ages and abilities, particularly persons with a disability. Findings indicate there are considerable gaps in the provision of services and information that enable people to choose nature experiences. There are three ways to look at accessibility: the adaptation pathway, the accommodation pathway, and the universal design pathway. Management implications There are growing calls to promote inclusive nature experiences in tourism and recreation spaces outside of community settings. Management of such spaces must reconcile equity concerns with a host of other priorities like environmental conservation. More research is required to underpin detailed standards for universal access as part of management priorities.  Partnerships that involve management personnel, environmental and public health researchers, and persons with a disability are needed to identify effective management synergies. Photo by Jane Bringolf

Braille and tactile paintings

Two men are standing next to a painting. One man has his hands on the painting. Braille and tactile paintings.
Tactile painting at Pune Airport

Audio describing a painting to a person who is blind requires a special skill. It takes more than talking about shape, colour and content. It also requires an interpretation of the message the artist wishes to convey. But what if the painting has tactile outlines, borders and Braille scripts? Braille and tactile paintings became the mission of Chintamani Hasabnis. 

Chintamani Hasabnis creates paintings accessible to people who are blind. This was after watching a young woman crossing the street with a white cane. He thought, “I paint so many pictures but I can’t show any of them to her.”

An article on the News Hook website tells how Hasabnis worked towards creating his paintings. He said it took a while before he realised he had to make something people could touch. A visit to a school for blind children gave him the answer – paintings with Braille and tactile elements. Pune International Airport in India was one of the first places to display one of his paintings. 

Hasabnis has completed 30 paintings, mostly portraits, and of course, sighted people can also share the tactile joy of these paintings. 

The video below, with captions, shows some of the paintings and how the Braille is incorporated into the picture. 

This is not the first example of Braille painting. The Guy Cobb painting below is on the Wikimedia site is from 2010.

A man in a dark suit places his hands on a brightly coloured painting representing blue flowers on a yellow and orange background.
Guy Cobb Painting

QDN’s Co-design principles

Front cover of QDN Co-design priniciples.Co-design is the new buzzword in the field of disability. But co-design isn’t only about disability inclusion. It’s a design process that seeks the best design for the intended users. Including people from a diversity of backgrounds, ages, levels of capability and experience is good practice. It’s how you do universal design. But what is it exactly and how does it work?  The ultimate in co-design is to include users from design concept stage. The next best thing is to include users in testing the first prototype. Many design firms say budget and time constraints prevent them from implementing this highly iterative method. But how much does it cost to remedy poor design and lack of compliance?  Co-design should not be confused with community consultation which seeks opinions about a design. User testing is not a form of co-design either. Co-design is where designers and users share the power of designing together. Co-design processes work for developing products, buildings, websites, services, policies and guidelines. Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN) have published their Co-Design Principles. This document obviously focuses on people with disability and the Queensland context. Regulation, legislation and policies such as the state disability plan fill most pages.   Five values underpin QDN’s co-design principles and processes:
      • Authentic Voice – We ensure those with limited or no voice are heard and valued
      • Collaborative Action – We learn from collective experiences, values, and wisdom 
      • Rights – We believe in a human rights approach 
      • Respect – We value human difference and diversity 
      • Resilience – We are here for the long term.

Co-design processes

A three page summary has the key points above and the co-design processes.  The starting place – Craft the question that reflects intent/purpose and invites inquiry.  Build the team – Get diversity and support inclusion Discovery Phase – See the issue from different viewpoints, and perspectives. Hear from others including those who disagree Pause and Reflect – Take time to pause and reflect on what you have learnt in the discovery phase and what you still don’t know before jumping to solutions Sense-making – Look at the data, story, research, and evidence in their raw form and work together to make sense and meaning of what has been gathered Generate options – Stage where sense-making starts to yield conclusions, ideas and possibilities, and people get in the creative zone Developing Prototypes – Generate as many ideas as possible and develop a working example of the policy, service, program, product, or scenario-based solution Learning, reworking, and refining – Part of the learning cycle and reworks can produce ‘prototype’ – the solution for testing, piloting, or putting into action Embed what works – Turn it into action and make it real. Keep people engaged and stay accountable. The QDN website has more information about the organisation and their activities. See other articles on co-design: The right to participate in co-design, and What does co-design mean? How does it work? 

Consulting people with disability

Front cover Consulting with persons with disabilities.
Full guidelines
Consulting people with disability just needs careful planning. Yes, of course it takes time, but all consultation takes time. But it is always worth it because it saves time in rectifications later.  The United Nations Inclusion Strategy has guidelines for consulting persons with disabilities. The main guideline document is very detailed and links with the UN Convention Indicator 5. It covers representative organisations, when to consult, and how to do it. The Easy Read version is very helpful for everyone.   
Front cover of Easy Read Guide Consulting people with disability.
Easy Read version
The Easy Read version has the key information. It covers the importance of consulting, taking part in decisions, and working with representative organisations. There are links to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals with the promise of “leave no one behind”.  One key point in this version is that people with disability should be involved in decisions about everything – not just things to do with disability.   

Some days don’t have 24 hours

Lots of clock faces piled on top of each other showing different times. Week has seven days and every day has 24 hours. We all know that. But some people don’t have the same amount of time available within 24 hours as others. And it isn’t a case of poor time management. Time gets stolen. So what does it mean when I say, “some days don’t have 24 hours”? Sheri Byrne-Haber pinpoints the issues in her article in Medium about the disability time thief. Sometimes it’s a few moments here and there, and sometimes it a regular chunk.  This article shows why consulting with people with disability is not a matter of setting a date and time and sending out the invitation. The time of day and the place are really important considerations.  The title of Byrne-Haber’s article is We don’t all have the same 24 hours. Anyone who thinks that we do lives in a monster privilege bubble.  

Accessible websites need accessible content

Close up view of a web page where content can be added. Accessible websites need accessible content.As our lives transition to digital formats it’s important to know some digital accessibility basics. Creating accessible websites is the first step. But accessible websites need accessible content too. If your Word or PDF documents end up on a website, will they be accessible? 

Gregg Vanderheiden from the Trace R&D Center has developed an Accessibility Masterlist which has more detail on accessible digital design. The Masterlist acts as both information and a checklist for developers and others.

The Masterlist is helpful for anyone engaging a web designer because it shows what needs to be considered.  Most web designers know about web accessibility and say they will meet the standards. However, standards are a minimum and tend to get tacked on at the end. Not the best solution – better to be integrated to avoid digital clunkiness. 

Some Quicksheets

Here are some of the 33 Trace R&D Center Quicksheets that summarise information:

What are Learning Disabilities?

Quick Guide for Accessible PowerPoint presentations

PDF readers with Readability Features

Web Resources

Towards Accessibility for Cognitive, Language and Learning Disabilities

Readability

Accessibility and Universal Usability/Design Journals related to ICT

What is Photosensitive Epilepsy / Photosensitive Seizure Disorders?

Web Accessibility Legislation

What is Low Vision?

Social Media Accessibility

Disability Marketing

Making Images Accessible (Alt text and more)

Overview of Web Accessibility

What is Blindness?

Keyboard Accessibility

Web Accessibility Standards

What is Physical Disability?

Digital Literacy

What is Deaf and Hard of Hearing?

Cognitive Disability

Accessible content – everyone’s business

A laptop is open on a desk and a tablet next to it. Accessible online content is everybody's business.You don’t have to be a technical expert to do simple things such as using a clear font and ensuring colour contrast. Describing images using the alt-text feature helps people with screen reader. It also adds to search engine optimisation which means Google will like you more. Captioning videos is essential because it is useful for everyone – it’s universal design. 

An easy-to-read magazine article from Canada explains more on their blog page, which is an example of clear text and plain language. The title of the article is, Experts calling on businesses to make their online content more accessible.

Web design is one part, uploaded documents also need to be accessible.Check out the WCAG for people who haven’t read them. 

A related resource is the Handbook for accessible graphic design. .