Experimental observations on the optimal layout of orientation blocks for safe road crossing by the visually impaired

Accessibility of the Built Environment for People with Sensory Disabilities—Review Quality and Representation of Evidence

“…When looking at sensory disabilities, general research often groups visual and hearing disabilities together, although their needs are different and at times contradictory. For visual impairments, visual cues are commonly translated into tactile or auditory cues within the environment [8,14,31,37,40,45]. Strong colour and tonal contrasts can be used as well to help residual sight users provide missing information [8,31,45].…”

“…Research should be directed towards understanding the wayfinding process and how to formalize it as a required component of the standards. Wayfinding includes the collective use of tactile paving, lead lines, and sounds in the environment that the visually impaired use to orient themselves [36,37,40,42,43]. community encounters when using public transportation systems.…”

“…A study conducted by Inagaki et al examined the installation of newly designed orientation blocks and the effectiveness of their placement to facilitate people with visual impairments at crosswalks [40]. These orientation blocks provide great guidance while crossing the roadway if they are placed in the proper position relative to the tactile walking surface indicators.…”