Proceedings of: Workshop on Improving Building Design for Persons with Low Vision

Mobility

So we can get more or less back on schedule, I’ll not go through the details of these other slides, except to show you that for all functions, they decrease pretty systematically with visual acuity and with contrast sensitivity (slides 72 – 77). But notice that mobility is very poor to begin with. Normal here would be about five. So even for people with very good contrast sensitivity and going back even for people with very good visual acuity, mobility is the worst affected and it stays bad. And as the vision gets worse, the other functions come down, but mobility gets clobbered early and stays clobbered. And blind spots do the same kind of thing. Mobility gets clobbered early and stays clobbered. These are all independent effects.

So the focus really has to be – the biggest bang really has to be on mobility (slide 78). And what can be done – I’ve already heard people talk about; I don’t think I’m going to tell you anything new – but increase contrast. Glass doors are not good for people who have visual impairments; reduce camouflaging clutter. Increase the light, but not too much; you want to reduce glare. What that means is get the light sources out of the line of sight, okay?

Increase safety is a big part and we saw pictures of stairs and other things. And the emphasis here really has to be on steps, stairs and drop-offs. That’s where the falls occur, either on the top of the steps or the bottom of the steps or off a curb. And the changes in surface elevation – ramps on sidewalks – these types of things. Even on a small ramp to go up to change a level can be a deadly hazard for someone who can’t see that transition. And transitions from surface texture – going from carpet to tile – can be a tripping hazard. To people who can’t see that texture change, that could increase the risk.