7 Tips to Welcome a Person with Disabilities

7 Tips to Welcome a Person with Disabilities

by | 23 Apr, 2021

Two wheelchair users share drinks with other people

7 Tips to Welcome a Person with Disabilities

 

7 Tips to Make a Person with Disabilities Feel Welcome

  1. Stay natural
  2. Ask questions
  3. Don't think for them
  4. Offer your help, don't impose it
  5. Make sure you're talking to the person with disabilities before anything else
  6. Don't take offense if some behaviors seem strange to you
  7. Don't pet a dog without first asking his owner

Who hasn’t been uncomfortable dealing with a person with disabilities? We’ve all been afraid to drop a clanger, to be clumsy and to behave badly. It’s normal to feel disconcerted in a new situation when we don’t understand the appropriate codes. But it’s actually not that difficult. Here are a few tips that will work every time, regardless of the disability type of the person you’re talking with!

1. Stay natural

Alright, it’s easier said than done… But you need to realize that the person in front of you is above all a human being with the same needs as anyone. Meaning that past the initial moment of surprise, even the moment of panic (because this can also happen…), you simply have to say hello and start talking to the person in front of you.

2. Ask questions

Yes, it’s a new situation and yes, it’s normal not to have all the keys in hand. Simply ask the person you’re talking with what you can do for them. They know best how to explain it to you.

3. Don’t think for them

Because we want to do things right, we often tend to anticipate what a person with disabilities will say or do. But it’s a trap! There’s a good chance you’ll be wide of the mark concerning their expectations and this may cause frustration that could make the person with disabilities aggressive towards you! Give them time to express themselves.

4. Offer your help, don’t impose it

Some people with disabilities don’t dare to ask for help. You’ll make it easier for them if the offer to help comes from you. But do it in an open way so that the person you’re talking to can feel free to tell you if they need it or not.

5. Make sure you’re talking to the person with disabilities before anything else

If a person with disabilities is with someone like a caregiver, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t communicate with you. It’s in fact rarely the case. But even if it was, it’s not a reason to ignore them in the conversation. Just speak directly to them. The caregiver they’re with will naturally take over if it’s necessary.

6. Don’t take offense if some behaviors seem strange to you

There’s nothing more normal than to feel disconcerted facing an attitude or a behavior that’s out of the ordinary. But you need to realize that some types of disabilities may be the cause and that it’s completely out of control. Try to disregard it and treat the person with disabilities as an adult no matter what.

7. Don’t pet a dog without first asking his owner

Obviously, this advice concerns every dog but it’s particularly the case with guide dogs or service dogs used for other types of disabilities. Petting them while working could distract them and thus put in danger the people they’re accompanying.

 

We hope these basic tips will enable you to feel more confident next time you’re dealing with a person with disabilities in your venue or somewhere else! You’ll find other tips adapted to specific types of disabilities such as 12 Tips to Welcome a Deaf or Hard of Hearing Person and 9 Tips to Welcome a Person with an Intellectual Disability.

Please keep in mind that there are trainings to help you and your personnel best assist customers with disabilities. Thanks to qualified organizations, you’ll be able to talk about dealing with people with disabilities without any taboos!

 

 

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Some people with disabilities don’t dare to ask for help. You’ll make it easier for them if the offer to help comes from you.

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Lise Wagner

Lise Wagner

Accessibility Expert

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Disability Pride Month: What Is It and Why Is It Important?

Disability Pride Month: What Is It and Why Is It Important?

Jul 30, 2021

Disability Pride Month: What Is It and Why Is It Important?July celebrates Disability Pride Month! A month to support and raise awareness on disability. It gives people with disabilities an opportunity to be seen and heard. Obviously, everybody has their own...

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The French leading company

on the accessibility market.

ABOUT US

For more than 25 years, we have been developing architectural access solutions for buildings and streets. Everyday, we rethink today’s cities to transform them in smart cities accessible to everyone.

By creating solutions ever more tailored to the needs of people with disabilities, we push the limits, constantly improve the urban life and make the cities more enjoyable for the growing majority.

Artificial Intelligence and Accessibility: Examples of a Technology that Serves People with Disabilities

Artificial Intelligence and Accessibility: Examples of a Technology that Serves People with Disabilities

by | 05 Mar, 2021

A machine learning brain

Artificial Intelligence and Accessibility: Examples of a Technology that Serves People with Disabilities

Many of us think that artificial intelligence represents an abstract and futuristic notion we only see in sci-fi films with humanoid robots and holograms. However it’s more and more grounded in our reality reaching various fields and categories of people including people with disabilities. Artificial intelligence truly revolutionizes accessibility and inclusion! Thanks to AI technology solutions, people with disabilities can drastically improve their everyday lives. 

We had previously seen that smartphones are a powerful tool that help users with a visual impairment. Indeed, many apps enable them to remain autonomous. For example, thanks to Seeing AI, visually impaired people can easily read their mail by placing documents under the smartphone camera. AI technology can apply to any type of disability profile. For instance, people with reduced mobility can control everything at home just by using their voice with a virtual personal assistant such as Amazon Alexa.

Let’s take a look at AI and how it can enhance accessibility thanks to a few examples of innovative solutions! The future starts now!

What is artificial intelligence and how does it work regarding accessibility?

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to smart machines or algorithms that are capable of performing cognitive tasks usually made by humans. This includes different technology solutions that mimic humans and use logic from playing chess to solving equations. Machine learning is one of the technologies that is part of AI: when algorithms are exposed to more data, they can learn and improve from it in order to anticipate consumers’ needs. For example, Google uses machine learning: its algorithms collect what Internet users searched and what they liked on social networks in order to provide more personalized search results and recommendations. 

Nearly 4 billion people in the world use Google search engine, therefore AI, which is perceived as a social good. Anybody can have access to it including people with disabilities. Technology in general and artificial intelligence in particular have a key role in accessibility. It’s not just about finding the latest innovations but mostly about providing a solution at the service of a category of people in order to improve their lives. This represents a major progress for over 1 billion disabled people in the world who could use AI. What can AI do towards accessibility?

It can remove accessibility barriers through different solutions:

⊗ Image recognition for people with a visual impairment,

⊗ Facial recognition for people with a visual impairment,

⊗ Lip-reading recognition for people with a hearing impairment,

⊗ Text summarization for people with a mental impairment,

⊗ Real-time captioning or translations for people with a hearing impairment or even people who don’t speak the language.

AI has a huge impact on people with disabilities’ everyday lives: a person with a mental impairment can easily comprehend the world around him thanks to text summarization. What may at first be a complicated message to decipher turns out to be an easy-to-understand text. Things that at first were difficult or impossible for them are now easily accessible on a daily basis. AI enables people with disabilities to step into a world where their difficulties are understood and taken into account. Technology adapts and helps transform the world into an inclusive place with artificial intelligence accessibility. There is a certain sense of equality as AI puts everybody, with or without disabilities, at the same level.

What are the benefits of artificial intelligence regarding accessibility for people with disabilities?

We’ve seen the main points regarding AI accessibility but concretely, where is AI put into action to improve people with disabilities’ lives? How does AI help them remain autonomous? Let’s focus on 4 major situations where AI adds value:

Communicating with others and being connected

Depending on the type of disability and profile, communicating with others can be a challenge. The same holds true for staying connected to others in a world that’s more and more digitized with the growing importance of social media and our dependence to the Internet. But technology and AI leave no one behind and can be at the service of people with disabilities. A lot of apps use artificial intelligence to favor accessibility.

For blind or visually impaired people:

⊗ VoiceOver: a screen reader directly integrated on iPhones. Although its main use is to enunciate any email or textual message, VoiceOver also uses AI to describe apps icons, the battery level and even in part images. 

⊗ TalkBack: the equal of VoiceOver for Android smartphones. It enables users to fully use their smartphones.

⊗ Siri: iPhones virtual assistant. Thanks to voice control, users simply have to enunciate their request: from doing a Google search or dictating a text message to send to a friend. People with a visual impairment can easily use Siri and stay in touch with others.

⊗ Cortana: a virtual assistant created by Microsoft and implemented on Windows. It helps blind or visually impaired users to navigate on their computer using simply their voice. In a sense, it’s similar to Siri.

⊗ Google Assistant: an app activated by voice control. Users can easily set up an alarm or manage their schedule, the same way as Siri.

For deaf or hard of hearing people:

⊗ Ava: an instant transcription app that uses AI to instantly transcribe the conversation of a group of people. Its algorithm adds punctuation, the name of the person who is talking and the necessary vocabulary from the user’s dictionary. An easy way for people with a hearing impairment to be included and to follow a conversation with several people without lip-reading. 

⊗ RogerVoice: a French instant transcription app for group conversations available in 90 languages. It works the same way as Ava.

For people with physical disabilities:

⊗ Virtual assistants like Siri, Google Assistant and Google Voice Access: people with reduced mobility can use their smartphone by voice command. Google Voice Access was especially created for people with reduced dexterity.

⊗ IFTTT: an app that connects other apps so that the user with poor dexterity can use all his smartphone’s functionalities without struggling. It creates combinations with the apps to automatically perform tasks such as reading an email aloud and sending a tweet.

Even people with speech impediments can benefit from AI technology with the app Voiceitt. Thanks to machine learning, Voiceitt can easily understand people with brain injuries or Parkinson’s and whose speech may first seem difficult to apprehend. This app normalizes their speech to create an output of audio or text so that people with speech impediments can still communicate with others and be understood.

Of course, AI apps and smartphones aren’t the only way for people with disabilities to communicate and to be connected to others. Web accessibility keeps improving to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) thus providing the same access and services to everybody regardless of their disabilities. 

Indeed designing an accessible website can be quite tricky but AI technology turns out to be a game-changer. A site’s design is scanned and analyzed thanks to machine learning. It can then improve its accessibility through many points:

⊗ A facial recognition with an AI software to replace CAPTCHAs that can be difficult to find for people with a visual impairment,

⊗ A keyboard navigation optimization via the “Tab” button for people with physical disabilities,

⊗ A voice-recognition or a speech-recognition technology like Google’s Project Euphonia for people with speech impairments to use the Internet thanks to sounds and gestures,

⊗ Audio descriptions content for people with a visual impairment,

⊗ Captions and translations of online videos for people with a hearing impairment like Microsoft Translator,

⊗ Readjustments of graphic elements such as fonts, colors and spacing for people with a visual impairment,

⊗ A built-in library of idioms, slang and phrases that are unusually used for people with a mental impairment.

Machine learning mimics a browser, the same way it mimics humans, to automatically adapt what’s on the screen and make it accessible for people with disabilities. Artificial intelligence technology fully enhances accessibility and inclusion.

Getting around

For people with disabilities, mobility proves to be one of the most challenging issues to overcome. How can wheelchair users get around in the city in an autonomous and serene way when they constantly need to be aware of the location of lowered pavements and accessible toilets? In our article How to Help People with Disabilities Get a Better Experience on the Subway?, we saw that people with disabilities need to rigorously prepare every trip they make. Luckily for them, a lot of navigation apps based on AI technology can help them gain more autonomy and more spontaneity when they’re getting around.

⊗ Google Maps: one of the most used GPS apps around the world. Visually impaired people or wheelchair users can prepare their trip in advance and visualize their route and the best means of transportation to use according to their profile. Thanks to the “wheelchair accessible” option, wheelchair users can know where ramps and elevators are located in the city. Plus the feature “accessible places” is useful for them to have more information about the layout of many premises: entrance, parking spots, restrooms, seating arrangements… This feature is also used by people with a visual impairment to find the exact location of a building entrance.

⊗ Moovit: a great app for people who use public transportation. It provides real-time traffic information and turns out to be helpful for people with a visual impairment when voice announcements aren’t activated on the bus for example. 

⊗ Wheelmap: it lists and maps all accessible public venues (restaurants, shops, cafés…). Even users can add data and information concerning the accessibility level of places. 

⊗ Soundscape: an app that describes blind people their surroundings with audio 3D technology. They can easily be aware of the points of interest near them and the intersections. Quite convenient to enjoy the city.

⊗ Evelity: the first indoor wayfinding app for people with disabilities. Regardless of their profile, they can easily navigate inside complex and busy places such as subway networks, colleges and universities, shopping malls, stadiums… Evelity works like a GPS and gives step by step instructions. It’s tailor-made to fit the users’ profiles and their needs:

→ Visually impaired users can set it up to work with VoiceOver and TalkBack screen readers so that they can have audio instructions.

→ Hearing impaired users can use text descriptions and icons.

→ Wheelchair users and people with reduced mobility benefit from optimized routes.

→ People with a cognitive impairment have simplified interfaces.

This innovative navigation app for people with disabilities is the perfect example of AI technology that enhances accessibility in general and people’s everyday lives in particular. 

Evelity is currently being tested at the Jay Street-MetroTech subway station in New York City. Other complex venues have installed this navigation app in France, where it was created: the metro network of Marseilles, the medical university Rockefeller in Lyon and the LUMA museum in Arles.

For the two first venues, Evelity remains a regular navigation system but for the museum, it also provides geolocated cultural content! For blind and visually impaired visitors, the app describes the exposed works of art and enables them to find their bearings in the different rooms of the museum. Culture is partial to ally technology and accessibility!

How to Make Museums More Accessible for People with Disabilities?

Self-driving cars (also called autonomous cars or driverless cars) represent a new solution for the mobility of people with disabilities, regardless of their disabilities since they can help them get around more independently. People don’t need to ask a relative or to book a service when they need to get around by car. Self-driving cars use sensors, cameras, radars and AI to get to the chosen destination. Their algorithms collect all the necessary data about their environment like traffic lights, curbs, pedestrians…, by inputting Google Maps and Google Street View. Many companies from the car industry test or develop self-driving cars.

Living independently 

AI technology concerns any field and can thus enhance accessibility even at home. Virtual assistants can improve everybody’s lives and it’s particularly striking with people with disabilities. We’d previously talked about Siri on iPhones. But at home, with smart speakers like Amazon Echo with Alexa and Google Home with Google Assistant, people with disabilities can control everything by voice: from turning on the lights to setting up an alarm or listening to music in the living room. 

Any home object can be connected which means that a blind person can set up their oven just by asking Alexa or that a person with reduced dexterity can lower a room temperature just by using their voice. 

Even before arriving home, people with disabilities can still control their virtual assistants at home thanks to the app IFTTT. It connects different apps together, including virtual assistants like Alexa, to create combinations called “applets”. It’s very convenient for people with reduced dexterity: any single task can automatically be done by voice control. They can for example increase their thermostat on their way from work to be at ease once they arrive home. 

Having a connected smart home can sometimes be life saving: if a person with disabilities falls, a system previously set up can call up emergency services. People with disabilities can thus live alone knowing that they’re safe if something happens.

AI technology solutions enable people with disabilities to gain more autonomy and be comfortable in their own homes. AI takes accessibility to the next level. 

Accessing the same services as anybody

Inclusivity means that everybody has the right to access any services regardless of their profiles and disabilities. Blind people can read thanks to Braille and hearing impaired people can enjoy a movie thanks to subtitles. Here are a few non-exhaustive examples of artificial intelligence technology at the service of accessibility:

⊗ Braille AI Tutor: an innovative solution to compensate the lack of Braille teachers. Thanks to AI-based speech recognition and gamification, blind students can learn Braille more independently. Education represents a fundamental right. Accessing to an education is key for blind people to find a job and be included in society.

⊗ Seeing AI on iOS: an app designed for visually impaired people that can read and describe all types of documents placed under the smartphone camera such as banknotes or mail. It can even recognize images, colors and faces thus providing details on people’s emotions. 

⊗ Lookout on Android: the equivalent app of Seeing AI. It has a Quick Scan Mode that can skim through a text.

⊗ Google’s Project Guideline: an AI-based solution that enables blind people to run by themselves. With just a harness around their waist, their Android smartphone connected to it and headphones, blind people can run without any external help following a guideline painted on the ground. 

⊗ Accessible documents thanks to Microsoft Accessibility Checker or Adobe Accessibility Checker: students and employees with disabilities can still have access to information in order to succeed.

The medical industry also benefits from AI with robot-assisted technology for more precision during surgery or data collection to provide a more accurate diagnosis. But for people with disabilities, this can represent a huge progress in providing a better quality of life. The most striking example is the invention of an exoskeleton powered with AI that enables paralyzed people to use their legs again: they can stand up and walk. A breakthrough that’s not only technological but also medical for people with motor impairments!

These are just a few of the AI technologies used to improve people with disabilities’ lives in various fields as many more solutions are available and developed whether by startups or large corporations such as Google and Microsoft. By having a user-centered approach, artificial intelligence technologies use inclusive design to conceive solutions that best meet the needs of people with disabilities to enhance accessibility. Indeed, AI technology enables them to gain more autonomy whether they’re at home enjoying a movie with subtitles or at work reading an accessible document making the world more accessible and inclusive to them.

Want to know more about apps that people with disabilities use in their everyday lives? Read our articles: 

5 Must-Have Apps for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People in 2022

12 Must-Have Apps for Blind or Visually Impaired People in 2022

9 Must-Have Apps for People with Physical Disabilities in 2022

Updated on December 28th, 2021 / Published on March 5, 2021

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A blind man uses the app Evelity to get around in the subway

AI enables people with disabilities to step into a world where their difficulties are understood and taken into account.

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Carole Martinez

Carole Martinez

Content Manager

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The French leading company

on the accessibility market.

ABOUT US

For more than 25 years, we have been developing architectural access solutions for buildings and streets. Everyday, we rethink today’s cities to transform them in smart cities accessible to everyone.

By creating solutions ever more tailored to the needs of people with disabilities, we push the limits, constantly improve the urban life and make the cities more enjoyable for the growing majority.

9 Tips to Welcome a Person with an Intellectual Disability

9 Tips to Welcome a Person with an Intellectual Disability

by | 09 Oct, 2020

9 Tips to Welcome a Person with an Intellectual Disability

 

9 Tips to Make a Person with an Intellectual Disability Feel Welcome

  1. Smile!
  2. Stay natural
  3. Do not infantilize your conversation partner
  4. Be patient
  5. Use a simple and clear language
  6. Add other mediums to your communication
  7. Offer to help
  8. Do not take offense
  9. Avoid clichés

You’re facing a person with an intellectual disability and you don’t know how to exchange with them? Everybody can feel uncomfortable seeing we don’t always know how to approach, or help if necessary, a person with disabilities. Whether you are a tourism professional who needs keys to welcome a person with an intellectual disability in your establishment or a curious citizen who wants advice in order to easily communicate with a colleague with an intellectual disability, these tips are made for you! 

 

What is intellectual disability?

Intellectual disability comes from a learning disability. Generally appearing from birth, it’s characterized by learning difficulties and an intellectual development that’s inferior to the population average. People with an intellectual disability have trouble thinking, conceptualizing, communicating and making decisions.

Trisomy 21 (or Down syndrome) is the most well known genetic disorder that leads to an intellectual disability but other syndromes exist such as Fragile X, Prader-Willi or Smith-Magenis…

Around 7 million people have intellectual disabilities in the United States. (Our article Disabled People in the World in 2019: Facts and Figures details all the figures about the types of disabilities.) How to easily communicate with them and make them feel welcome? 

1. Smile!

There’s nothing like a beautiful and sincere smile to put at ease your conversation partner! Keep in mind that we can draw a lot of emotions thanks to our facial expressions!

 

2. Stay natural

When facing a person with an intellectual disability, the best thing to do is to address them the same way you would anyone. Using a warm tone devoid of pity!

 

3. Do not infantilize your conversation partner

Remain civilized and respectful in all circumstances, even if their behavior can seem childish to you.

 

4. Be patient

Take your time to truly listen to the person in front of you and adopt a reassuring attitude. Let the person speak and react at their own pace. Also be patient when you inform or guide a person with an intellectual disability. 

 

5. Use a simple and clear language

Opting for a language devoid of technical and specialized terms or unnecessary details will help you get your message across.

 

6. Add other mediums to your communication

A written text, an image or even body language can be useful when the person in front of you has trouble understanding you or memorizing information.

 

7. Offer to help

Of course you can offer to help but don’t get offended if the answer is negative. A person with an intellectual disability can indeed be autonomous according to the situations and their capabilities so it’s best not to impose your help even though you have good intentions in the first place.

 

8. Do not take offense

Some behaviors or attitudes can seem strange to you but there’s no need to take offense.

 

9. Avoid clichés

Keep finding out about people with disabilities and how to behave around them. Our article 8 Clichés about Intellectual Disability can complete these tips.

 

Implementing a simple yet efficient signage system with colored icons and easy-to-understand words help facilitate the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in establishments open to the public. As you can see, it’s easy to make them feel welcome in any type of situation! 

 

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Take your time to truly listen to the person in front of you and adopt a reassuring attitude.

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Carole Martinez

Carole Martinez

Content Manager

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The Ultimate Guide to Accessible Pedestrian Signals

The Ultimate Guide to Accessible Pedestrian Signals

The Ultimate Guide to Accessible Pedestrian Signals  Table of contents What are accessible pedestrian signals?Why do cities have accessible pedestrian signals?Who are APS for?How do audible traffic signals work exactly?What is pedestrian detection?Why are...

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For more than 25 years, we have been developing architectural access solutions for buildings and streets. Everyday, we rethink today’s cities to transform them in smart cities accessible to everyone.

By creating solutions ever more tailored to the needs of people with disabilities, we push the limits, constantly improve the urban life and make the cities more enjoyable for the growing majority.

Urban mobility of the most vulnerable: 5 minutes to understand

Urban mobility of the most vulnerable: 5 minutes to understand

by | 23 Aug, 2019

Urban Mobility of the Most Vulnerable: 5 Minutes to Understand

 

Ensuring urban mobility for all is a major challenge. Many people who are vulnerable because of their physical condition, mental health, age or strong cultural barriers can not move independently. The sidewalks that we walk every day without difficulty can be a source of anxiety and factor of social withdrawal for the most fragile people.

In the light of different surveys, we will try to understand the behavior and needs of fragile people in their travels. What are the difficulties encountered? What are the measures to be taken to improve their experience in the urban space? This article takes stock of the situation.

Make the city “legible”

According to Kevin Lynch’s book Image of the City (1960), the city is made “legible” thanks to five structuring elements: streets, neighborhoods, landmarks, boundaries and nodes (junction and concentration points). Pedestrians rely on these physical forms to find their bearings. They are meant to offer the user the opportunity to create a mental image of the places he or she walks.

When readability is lacking, apprehension takes the lead. This anxiety can become a real source of stress that paralyzes the most vulnerable people so that they give up moving and lose autonomy.

The perception of urban space varies from one user to another according to his physical and mental abilities, his personal experience and his culture. These personal filters encourage the consideration of the capacities of the most diverse users.

Priority goes therefore to the “legibility” of the city to improve the feeling of safety of all users.

Urban mobility: who are the most fragile people?

Disabled people

“About 15% of the world’s population lives with some form of disability, of whom 2-4% experience significant difficulties in functioning.” WHO

Disability typologies are grouped under six main categories:

⊗ mobility impairment

⊗ sensory disability

⊗ psychic handicap

⊗ mental disability

⊗ cognitive impairment

⊗ debilitating diseases

Among them, there are people with several disabilities of the same degree as deafblindness and people with a severe disability with multiple expressions resulting in extreme restriction of autonomy.

Old people

“Between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 years old will nearly double from 12% to 22%.”(WHO)

The elderly are often affected by gait disorders, cognitive disorders and sensory disorders.

Foreigners

Cities around the world are not alike and that’s good! Culture is indeed at the heart of urban development. Some tourists and especially some immigrants can lose their bearings because of a different conception of the city as they know it and the lack of knowledge of the language. In American for exemple, over 76 million tourists from all over the world are visiting the country every year. In England, over 40 million visits have been recorded in 2017.

Other factors

Everyone can feel vulnerable, the time of a trip. Distraction, temporary tiredness or punctual stress are all factors that affect physical or intellectual abilities.

Movement strategies of the most vulnerable people

 

The Center for Studies and Expertise on Risks, the Environment, Mobility and Development (CEREMA) has initiated about twenty commented journeys in urban environments with so-called “fragile” people. The objective of this study is to highlight the difficulties of certain urban amenities and the travel choices of the most vulnerable people to solve these difficulties.

The perception of public space by people with disabilities

People with visual impairments face many technological and social challenges on a daily basis. But that’s without counting the environmental difficulties, especially in their movements in the city. The design of the public space is rather intended and thought for people who have all the senses. The experience of space without the eyes rests mainly on the decipherment of the sound and tactile cues, as for example:

 

 

⊗ attention to sidewalk changes that signal a zone change

⊗ listening to the noise of cars to appreciate the proximity of the street

⊗ the attention paid to the arrangement of the trees to know the position of the buildings, etc.

To move safely, visually impaired people make travel choices that vary from person to person such as:

⊗ be accompanied by a person

⊗ favor the streets at right angles and with few shops or terraces to avoid obstacles and crowds

⊗ walk along the walls to cross wide open spaces,

⊗ follow the GPS directions by choosing the shortest route or the one with the least turns

Deaf people, who have invisible disabilities, also find it difficult to decipher their environment. A study conducted by the Gare de Lyon in Paris shows that among users with all types of disabilities, it is the people with hearing problems who have the most difficulty to achieve a journey. This result can be explained by “the natural invisibility of hearing loss that does not generate spontaneous assistance from the public or staff (…) but also by the reluctance of the people involved to announce their disability”, says the study.

To decipher their environment, deaf people favor visual ambiances, kinesthetic or olfactory cues and breaks in the atmosphere or certain urban furniture. They rely mainly on written inscriptions, characteristic smells and break points.

In terms of choice of travel, the CEREMA study shows that deaf people generally avoid approaching areas considered dangerous as water bodies.

As for people with reduced mobility, they prefer a route adapted to their physical condition. Wheelchair users need alternatives to stairs, steps and slopes equal or greater than 1:12. In either case, they take care to prepare their trip upstream.

For people with mental, cognitive and psychic disabilities the understanding of the urban space is often altered by the worry and stress of the unknown. The disability can be aggravated when the logic of the organization of space is not made explicit. In this case, the person tends to give up moving. Travel choices focus on familiar routes, close to home and leave no room for the unexpected.

Public space for the elderly

Older people may also have sensory, physical or motor disabilities, or many at the same time. They are subject to stress, fatigue, memory loss. It can be difficult for them to read road signs or a map because of vision problems.

According to a March 2016 Observatory Mobility (OMNIL) survey, the main reason for moving for people over the age of 60 is the home-purchase journey.

Older people concentrate their trips to do their shopping near their homes. They will take their time, sit on public benches to rest, go outside of the period of influence…

The case of foreigners

For some foreigners, the city they discover may not have the architectural codes they know. In addition, the lack of knowledge of the language is an impediment to decipher road signs and ask for directions.

Preferred travel strategies are the use of a GPS or a map (which can be a distraction 

and can cause accidents) and the assistance of passers-by.

Suggested improvements to enhance urban mobility of fragile people

Facilitating access to the city by all means designing more ergonomic urban spaces. Urban planners and public decision-makers must take into account the mobility difficulties of the entire population and set benchmarks to facilitate their orientation and their choice of trips.

Here are some ways to improve urban mobility for all:

⊗ Provide GPS-type tools for people with disabilities to calculate a route based on a specific disability

⊗ Design clear and visible signage by all to avoid endangerment by looking for clues

⊗ Install audio beacons in key city locations and transportation networks to guide visually impaired

⊗ Securing pedestrian crossings for the visually impaired by installing

⊗ Accessible Pedestrian Signals Avoid the creation of obstacles on the main axes of movement which are the reference routes for the most fragile users

⊗ Consult the users to seek feedbacks and the experts in order to propose adequate solutions

⊗ Make available and maintain accessibility equipment and street furniture, especially benches to rest and promote social bonds

⊗ Delimit space changes with clear visual or tactile cues

⊗ Limit spaces to a proper function to promote readability

⊗ Focus on the quality of public spaces ambiances to make them reassuring and welcoming

We are all vulnerable pedestrians. Tourist, expatriate, permanently or temporary disabled, subject to the tiredness of age or a busy day. This fragility, whatever its nature, induces a loss of autonomy and serenity in our travels.

A more legible city is a city that welcomes more visitors, boosts its economy and takes into account the travel choices of the entire population. Designing the city for the benefit of the most vulnerable means ensuring comfort and security for all. So consult the users and ask them about the areas to focus on to improve your city.

Start now to enhance urban mobility!

Check out our articles on the city of tomorrow:

MaaS: a Solution for Tomorrow’s Mobility

Disability as an Innovation Driver for the Smart City

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Some tourists and especially some immigrants can lose their bearings because of a different conception of the city as they know it and the lack of knowledge of the language.

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Zoe Gervais

Zoe Gervais

Content Manager

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The Ultimate Guide to Accessible Pedestrian Signals  Table of contents What are accessible pedestrian signals?Why do cities have accessible pedestrian signals?Who are APS for?How do audible traffic signals work exactly?What is pedestrian detection?Why are...

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For more than 25 years, we have been developing architectural access solutions for buildings and streets. Everyday, we rethink today’s cities to transform them in smart cities accessible to everyone.

By creating solutions ever more tailored to the needs of people with disabilities, we push the limits, constantly improve the urban life and make the cities more enjoyable for the growing majority.

Public Transport: Accessibility Solutions, Also for the Intellectual Disability!

Public Transport: Accessibility Solutions, Also for the Intellectual Disability!

by | 28 Jun, 2019

Public Transport: Accessibility Solutions, Also for the Intellectual Disability!

 

153 million people live with an intellectual disability in the World. How do they get around the city and take public transportation independently? What are the facilities, accessibility equipment or human solutions that facilitate their mobility? The accessibility regulation is not very explicit on the subject. But many public transport networks have already experimented and implemented measures that have positive effects. Here is an overview!

Intellectual Disability: Specific Needs for Mobility

 

Intellectual disability, also known as general learning disability or mental retardation, is characterized by significantly impaired intellectual and adaptive functioning. Often confused with the mental illness and associated with the cognitive disability, the intellectual disability nevertheless has its specificities.

People with intellectual disabilities have, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the case:

⊗ difficulties of understanding and conceptualization,

⊗ reduced analytical capacity,

⊗ increased emotions and sensitivity to stress,

⊗ difficulties in getting in touch and being understood,

⊗ a reduced ability to be aware of space and time,

⊗ a lack of ability to cope with unforeseen circumstances,

⊗ difficulty concentrating and remembering information,

⊗ difficulties to sort out too much information,

⊗ complicated access to writing, especially when the information is long or contains abbreviations or acronyms…

For the use of public transport, these difficulties have concrete consequences at each stage of the journey: reading maps, understanding schedules, wayfinding, remembering and following directions, identifying the correct bus stop or subway station, coping with service disruptions, delays and emergencies, requesting information from appropriate sources…

 

Tools Adapted to the Intellectual Disability to Use Public Transport

Many transport authorities have already put in place solutions to facilitate access for people with intellectual disabilities to public transport. Beyond the 153 million people with intellectual disabilities identified in the World, it is many other travelers who benefit: the elderly, children, people with mental or cognitive disabilities and potentially anyone stressed or distracted.

 

Help by Planning a Trip

Planning a trip is essential to feel reassured and anticipate difficulties. Some people with intellectual disabilities need to be trained to use public transport.

In New York City, the MTA offers free travel training to all travelers with disabilities. They learn to use the bus and subway independently. To remember the skills obtained, they can also refer to the MTA Guide to Accessible Transit.

In San Francisco, travelers with intellectual disabilities can also get an individualized travel training with a qualified travel trainer. This training allow them to improve their travel skills and gain more experience using the Muni system.

This kind of trainings also exist in Paris with “Mobility Workshops”. The RATP transit system has published a guide in language easy to read and understand.

Some people with an intellectual disability are quite able to use a map as long as it is simplified. Many cities have maps that include photos of the main places. This preview has a reassuring effect and facilitates the recognition of its destination when reaching it. Transport for London offers a large collection of maps in different forms: color, black and white, large print, audio, etc.

 

Multichannel and Multisensory Signage

 

Dissemination of information via several channels and in different sensory modalities (visual, sound, tactile) can reach a wider audience and ensures a better understanding of the message in all circumstances.

More and more transit systems are providing traveler information in real time both in visual form (lighted signs) and sound. Most of the World’s largest cities have passenger information systems with both visual and vocal announcements. This is very helpful for most fragile travelers.

Many French cities have installed audio signage for blind and visually impaired people. The speakers are activated on demand with a remote control or smartphone to avoid noise pollution on roads. They broadcast a fully customizable message wich announces the name of the location and guiding information. Specialized associations on intellectual disability suggest extending the use of these audio beacons to the population they represent. These devices are gradually installed to locate the entrances of metro stations in Paris.

The use of symbols or pictograms also facilitates identification and helps memorize information. Mexico City’s Metro system has icons to identify each station. Instead of a name, these graphic elements make wayfinding easier for passengers with intellectual disabilities or those who cannot read.

Still underdeveloped in the urban space, pavement marking has a strong potential for wayfinding of all the public. In Liverpool, the locations of the main bus stops are indicated by footprints incorporating the bus number and differentiated by a color code.

 

Training Frontline Staff and Drivers on Disability Awareness

 

The behavior of drivers and transport employees can, as appropriate, improve or aggravate the stress or panic situations of travelers with intellectual disabilities. This is one of the reasons why training for the reception of disabled people and accessibility must be provided to all personnel in contact with the public.

This approach is already in place on many public transport networks, as in London, Paris, San Francisco or Toronto.

 

Implementation of Easy-to-Use Equipment

 

The complexity of automated ticketing or security gates can compromise access to transport for people with intellectual disabilities.

The design of this equipment must therefore take into account the specific needs of these users:

⊗ Reduction of the number of manipulations,

⊗ Information easy to understand,

⊗ Tolerance to slowness, etc.

Digital Solutions Adapted to Intellectual Disability

 

People with intellectual disabilities also benefit from advances in information and communication technologies. The Disability Innovation Institute in Sydney (Australia) conducts interdisciplinary research on the use of mobile technology by people with intellectual disabilities, and its capacity to improve their social inclusion. Apps on tablets and smartphones can help them in their daily lives to do their shopping, count the currency, organize their schedule, and of course, travel on public transport. To design accessible applications, it is necessary to take into account the following points:

⊗ Easy to read and understand text: use simple words, not jargon (e.g. travel document = ticket),

⊗ Photos of places: preview of strategic points and places of destination. The fact of being able to visualize one’s journey has indeed reassuring for a person with intellectual disability. A 360 ° view is a real plus.

⊗ Voice input: Users must be able to query with their own words.

⊗ Several possible paths: What is logical for some is not necessarily for others, for example for people with autism. An application accessible to all must allow access to the same information by several methods.

⊗ Suggestions when typing: Whether the query is captured by voice or text, the application should provide suggestions for failure (e.g., “Do you mean…”).

⊗ Priority to the most common queries: These should appear as close as possible to the beginning of the home screen to allow quick access to information.

⊗ E-mail or SMS Alerts: To help users better manage unexpected events and disruptions, it is essential that the application offers an e-mail or SMS alert system on predefined routes. The application should also propose alternative routes.

⊗ Personal preferences: Users must be able to record their own parameters as their preferred mode of transport (surface transport for a claustrophobic person), their walking speed (calculation of the journey time), map display mode (change map orientation, zoom control), etc.

 

As you can see, the needs of people with intellectual disabilities allow the development of solutions that benefit all public transport users. Anyone who occasionally encounters difficulties in comprehension, memory, strength or reactivity, because of their age, illness, stress, fatigue or a simple moment of distraction . Mobility professionals with disabilities are able to assist you in implementing these solutions.

 

If you like this article you might also like this one: 8 Clichés About Intellectual Disability

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The needs of people with intellectual disabilities allow the development of solutions that benefit all public transport users. Anyone who occasionally encounters difficulties in comprehension, memory, strength or reactivity, because of their age, illness, stress, fatigue or a simple moment of distraction.

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Zoe Gervais

Zoe Gervais

Content Manager

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Evelity, the first wayfinding solution for all types of disabilities in public and private facilities

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The Ultimate Guide to Accessible Pedestrian Signals

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The Ultimate Guide to Accessible Pedestrian Signals  Table of contents What are accessible pedestrian signals?Why do cities have accessible pedestrian signals?Who are APS for?How do audible traffic signals work exactly?What is pedestrian detection?Why are...

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on the accessibility market.

ABOUT US

For more than 25 years, we have been developing architectural access solutions for buildings and streets. Everyday, we rethink today’s cities to transform them in smart cities accessible to everyone.

By creating solutions ever more tailored to the needs of people with disabilities, we push the limits, constantly improve the urban life and make the cities more enjoyable for the growing majority.

7 Clichés About Psychiatric Disability

7 Clichés About Psychiatric Disability

by | 10 May, 2019

7 Clichés About Psychiatric Disability

 

7 popular beliefs about psychiatric disability

  1. Psychiatric disability does not affect me
  2. Intellectual disability and psychiatric disability are the same thing
  3. People who live with a psychiatric disability are unable to work
  4. A mental illness is for life, it cannot be cured
  5. The only way to treat people with psychiatric disabilities is to medicate them
  6. Schizophrenics are violent and dangerous. They often kill people
  7. There are no effective measures for promoting accessibility among people who have a psychiatric disability

Psychiatric disability, or mental illness, has long been associated with insanity. It very often (and wrongly) prompts an irrational fear in us. Like all other disabilities, it has many forms and a person can lead an active life with appropriate support.

1. Psychiatric disability does not affect me

Unfortunately, no family is safe from mental health issues, whether depression, anxiety, addiction, schizophrenia, anorexia or other. The WHO estimates that these disorders affect one in four people and that mental illness now represents the most common disability in the world.

2. Intellectual disability and psychiatric disability are the same thing

Even though the results of these two types of disabilities sometimes resemble each other, it is important to distinguish between them.
Intellectual disability is the result of a cognitive impairment that affects a person’s ability to learn, think and conceptualize. Psychiatric disability is the result of disabling psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and personality disorders. It is also often called “mental illness” but this can increase confusion between the two disabilities. In any case, psychiatric disability does not affect a person’s intellect. It simply makes it more difficult for them to use their intellectual abilities in certain circumstances or in a particular emotional state.

8 Clichés About Intellectual Disability

3. People who live with a psychiatric disability are unable to work

One of the main difficulties facing people affected by a psychiatric disability is keeping their job. The unemployment rate among people recognized as disabled workers is twice that of the general population. Nevertheless, with personalized support (rearrangement of work schedule and environment), they are more than capable of working and contributing their skills. A job can even act as an effective way of preventing their disorder from worsening.

4. A mental illness is for life, it cannot be cured

Studies show that the majority of people with mental health problems improve or even recover completely. They can then participate fully once again in family life, society and work, even if some symptoms linger on.

5. The only way to treat a person with a psychiatric disability is to commit them or medicate them

The vast majority of psychiatric patients are treated as outpatients and are never hospitalized. Psychotherapy, physiotherapy, social rehabilitation courses and support groups are just some of today’s alternatives to medication and hospitalization.

6. Schizophrenics are violent and dangerous. They often kill people

The statistics speak for themselves: less than 1% of crimes are committed by people suffering a serious mental illness. There is no connection between a psychiatric disorder and the committing of a crime.

7. There are no effective measures for promoting accessibility among people who have a psychiatric disability

Since anxiety is one of the most common symptoms of a psychiatric disability, anything that helps create a reassuring atmosphere is welcome. We can also add:

⊗ Hiring patient, respectful staff who are trained in receiving people with disabilities;

⊗ Posting simplified, illustrated signs with easy-to-understand words, colors, symbols and icons;

⊗ Using visually different carpets or floor coverings, or tactile strips to point out the main pathways;

⊗ Comforting background sound with noise-dampening coverings;

⊗ Indoor navigation apps such as Evelity: it can suit every user’s profile and provides step-by-step instructions to serenely guide people within complex venues.

Updated on January 19th, 2022/Published on May 10th, 2019

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Less than 1% of crimes are committed by people suffering a serious mental illness. There is no connection between a psychiatric disorder and the committing of a crime.

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Lise Wagner

Lise Wagner

Accessibility Expert

READ LISE'S BIO

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The Ultimate Guide to Accessible Pedestrian Signals

The Ultimate Guide to Accessible Pedestrian Signals

The Ultimate Guide to Accessible Pedestrian Signals  Table of contents What are accessible pedestrian signals?Why do cities have accessible pedestrian signals?Who are APS for?How do audible traffic signals work exactly?What is pedestrian detection?Why are...

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Unsubscribe in one click. The information collected is confidential and kept safe.

powered by okeenea

The French leading company

on the accessibility market.

ABOUT US

For more than 25 years, we have been developing architectural access solutions for buildings and streets. Everyday, we rethink today’s cities to transform them in smart cities accessible to everyone.

By creating solutions ever more tailored to the needs of people with disabilities, we push the limits, constantly improve the urban life and make the cities more enjoyable for the growing majority.