Professional

Smooth Blind Ways: Illuminating a Path of Light for the Visually Impaired!

On the side of the road, can we notice the yellow bricks next to the road in the clear breeze? Such special roads are called "blind roads", which are facilities designed to help blind people walk, including tactile indicator strips.


Tactile indicator strips close to the lives of the blind


Blind ways are generally made up of two types of bricks. One type is the striped guide brick, which guides blind people to move forward safely, known as the moving blind way; the other type is the dotted prompt brick, which provides tactile prompts to blind people that there are obstacles ahead, or that a turn is needed, known as the prompt blind road. In 1961, the United States formulated the world's first "accessibility standard". In 1991, the first blind way was built in Beijing. However, today, some assistive devices for the blind have been damaged or occupied, causing obstacles or even harm to blind people in daily travel! Such situations are alarming because they directly affect the life and property safety of the blind.


How many people lose their sight at birth and need to learn to adapt to this dark world? They need to get closer to the life of normal people through assistive devices. A few minutes' journey could take them several hours. Bumps and obstacles not only obstruct their life but also tug at our heartstrings!


The construction of tactile indicator strips to help the blind


The transportation of the blind is an issue of great concern to the government. In fact, due to insufficient publicity among the people, the large-scale construction of blind roads in cities has not provided great help to the blind. 


For certain "traps" in blind ways, the designers, constructors, supervisors, and inspectors are indeed blind people. They have not really brought benefits to the blind community, but instead have caused harm and inconvenience to them!


Barrier-free travel is not a trivial matter, not only for the blind community. For other disabled groups, some barrier-free measures may not be helpful, but through continuous improvement and innovation, changes can be seen clearly. The construction of tactile indicator strips, in continuous improvement and convenience, should not make blind roads "artwork", but should make them a convenient road for the blind.