visually impaired as a design challenge

VISUALLY IMPAIRED AS A DESIGN CHALLENGEDesign Considerations & Practical solutions

The problem lies in our point of view

Content List

Overview

Design Considerations

Design Ideas & Practical solutions

Case Studies

Overview

Other96%

Visually Impaired

4%

Overview

Problem Statement (until June

2012): 285 million people are

visually impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision.

About 90% of the world's visually impaired live in developing countries.

Low Vision86%

Blind 14%

Overview

Definition: are a people who suffer from a severe reduction in vision that cannot be corrected with conventional means , such as refractive correction or medication and reduces a person's ability to function at certain or all tasks.

Overview Measurement Standards: Eye care

professionals measures vision according to 2 main Standards:

Measurement

Standards

Vision Clarity

Snellen chart

Visual Field Degree

Overview

1. Vision Clarity: indicates how well a person's central visual status is.

Visually Impaired - Overview

Snellen chart: Vision Clarity is normally measured using a Snellen chart. It has letters of different sizes that are read, one eye at a time, from a distance of 20 ft. People with normal vision are able to read the 20 ft line at 20 ft (20/20 vision).

Overview

2. Visual Field: indicates how a person's entire area of vision range is.

Overview

Degree: Visual Field is normally measured in terms of degrees from the center. People with normal vision are able to to see:- 95° towards the ear from the

center.- 60° towards the nose from the

center.- 60° above from the center.- 75° below from the center.

Central Visual Field(30°)

Fixed Eyes Visual Field (120°)

Overview

Symptoms:

1. Inability of the person to see objects as clearly as a healthy person.

2. Inability of the person to see as wide an area as the healthy person without moving the eyes or turning the head.

3. Inability to look at light (Photophobia).4. Double vision (Diplopia).5. Visual distortion.6. Visual perceptual difficulties.7. Any combination of the above

features.

Overview

Categorization: The World Health Organization (WHO) defines impaired vision in 5 categories:1 •Low vision 1: is a best corrected visual acuity of 20/70.

2 •Low vision 2: starts at 20/200.

3 •Blindness 3: is below 20/400 or visual field between 5° and 10°.

4 •Blindness 4: is worse than 5/300 or visual field less than 5°.

5 •Blindness 5: is no light perception at all.


Visually impairedLow vision people:

when they use buildings, rely quite entirely on their ability to see.

Blind people:when they use buildings rely entirely on other senses, ie. touch, hearing, smell and touch.

In relation to the to design considerations Visually impaired people are divided into 2 categories:


BuiltEnvironment

Lighting

Colour

Texture

Acoustic

Smell

Legibility

Design considerations for Visually impaired people include the following elements of built environments:


Lighting: Adequate lighting is the single most important aid to vision.

The lighting needs of persons who are visually impaired vary according to the individual and their particular eye condition.


The 3 principle light sources are :light sources

Natural Incandescent Florescent

- Each source has their own attributes and weakness when considering lighting situations for persons who are partially sighted.


The key for the designer is to utilize these light sources optimally and considering the following:


1. Avoid glare and reflection, which are often caused by shinny or glossy surfaces.


2. Place light sources in locations to avoid creating shadows. Shadows can create optical illusions.


3. Distribute light levels throughout different spaces as many people have difficulty adjusting to fluctuations in light levels.


4. Include task and spot lighting to augment the overall lighting system.


5. Use of dimmer switches allows light levels to be adjusted to suit the unique needs of users..


Colour: The key for the designer is to utilize the contrast colours optimally and considering the following:


1. A colour contrast of 70% is generally accepted in many countries as the preferred amount to define items.


2. Colours to avoid using together include:

red/black, yellow/grey, yellow/white, red/green, black/violet and blue/green.


3. Be consistent in use of colour to convey messages.


4. Limit use of colour and keep colour schemes simple and avoid large-scale patterns. Keeping in mind that too many Colours used in design can create confusion.


Texture: Texture can assist in providing orientation clues about a space. The key for the designer is to utilize the Texture optimally and considering the following:


1. Using materials easily identified in terms of texture.


2. Using detectable warning surfaces which have a texture that can be felt under foot or detected by a person using a long cane to alerts a person who is visually impaired to a hazard.


3. Using tactile signs.


Acoustics: Sounds can assist in providing orientation clues about a space. The key for the designer is to utilize the Acoustics optimally and considering the following:


1. Providing different reverberation especially for floors so visually impaired can obtain a feel of the space.


2. Provide acoustically well-defined position items such as escalators, fountains, and elevators to create useful sounds.


3. Avoid noise sources from mask sounds intended to provide directional cues.


Smell: Smells can assist in defining a space for visually impaired. Smell may be natural or artificial.


Legibility: its refers to the degree to which building is understandable or recognizable. The key for the designer is to making the building easy to understand and considering the following:


1. Clear and easily understandable floor plan.


2. Continuity in the path and completely free of any obstacles.


3. Using readily comprehensible graphic symbols.

Design Ideas

Design Ideas

Ideas recognized by feet

Ideas Recognized by Touch, Sound & Smell

Ideas Recognized by contrast colors

Ideas Recognized by borders

Visual impaired facilities

Design Ideaslinear units to determine the route. Used in a metro’s stations

Ideas Recognized By Feet

Design IdeasThe round units to give warning at the end of the pavement so as not to overcome.


Also to alert people with visual impairments of their approach to streets and hazardous drop-offs

Design Ideas


Design Ideas

Different texture floors at the crossing to give the necessary guidance and known to the right way


Design Ideas


Design Ideas

The wall is laid with different textures and in different configurations.

Fragrant, richly textured plants also invite touching and smelling.

They cascade over the wall and grow in easily reached niches


Design Ideas

The label gives the visually impaired an access to the information of the plant


Design Ideas

richly textured plants also invite touching and smelling.


Design Ideas

Visually impaired visitors are able to detect changes in air temperature and humidity from the water wall.


Design Ideaslinear units with contrast colors to determine the route for visual impared .

Ideas Recognized By contrast colors

Design Ideas

Contrast colors at the pavement for visual impaired .

Ideas Recognized By contrast colors

Design Ideas

Handrails at the both sides for blind people.

Ideas Recognized by Borders

Design Ideas

Ideas Recognized by Borders

borders with a low kerbs

Design Ideas

Traffic light aid for the blind

Visual Impaired Aids & Facilities

Design Ideas


Design Ideas


small camera linked to powerful wearable computer. It sees what you see and through your finger-pointing understands what information you seek

Case Studies

Anchor Center for Blind ChildrenDenver, Colorado

Concept

In plan, the building is a succession of three "pods" connected by a linear hallway. The pods "Blue," "Yellow" and "Red" — play off the themes of mind, body and spirit and house the various classrooms and activity spaces, as well as spaces for staff, teachers and parents

The poetry of this building comes from designing an environment where you enrich the experience by embracing as many senses as possible.

The 15,600-square-foot building (named for a longtime supporter) and surrounding two-acre campus incorporate learning experiences at every turn, through light, sound, touch, smell — and even taste

Form

form

three classroom pods connected by a central circulation spine are flooded in diffused light through a series of filtered clerestory windows just below the angled roofline.

Entrance

entrance, pavement scoring draws wheelchair users toward the front door, and a subtle Braille-like motif enlivens the exterior brickwork. The gate at right opens into the Sensory Garden

High ceilings and skylights bring in light, and

clerestory lights in the hallway's pod entry ones

are correspondingly tinted blue, yellow and red. Along

the side wall, a Trail Rail and Light Walk provide additional way finding.

Through specific wall placements and flooring selections carpet, rubber and hard-surface materials all the classrooms are acoustically engineered to minimize noise and give directional sound cues. Benjamin's Niche, a classroom for children with both vision and hearing loss, is the only one with a wood floor it resonates, allowing the children to "feel" the sound.

Light

Color and contrast are integral to the design. In the Motor Room, vertical punctures of tinted glass and sunlight invite children to play within child-sized cubbies. Photograph by Ron Pollard

their realization that the project was all about light, not darkness, "Because the children have varying degrees of vision impairment, some can distinguish light and dark, as well as colors. So contrast and color play an important role in the design

Light

Sound, touch and light cues help children navigate the Grand Hallway. At the entrance to each pod, hardwood flooring gives way to tile, so children not only feel the texture change, but hear the sound change as their canes and footsteps resonate on the different surfaces. Acoustic baffles are also strategically suspended from the ceiling

Anchor Center for Blind Children incorporates sensory cues inside and out to help visually impaired children engage with and learn about the world around them..

Garden :

The Sensory Garden, located to the right of the entrance, is a feast for the senses. It features meandering pathways, a dry streambed with a small bridge, varying surface textures, bench seating, and native plantings selected for their texture, scent and color. "It's fairly sturdy stuff, so the kids can touch it and pull on it," An interactive fountain feature allows children to rearrange its stones, feeling their smoothness and changing the sound of the falling water. A slatted cedar fence surrounding the garden offers another tactile experience, with different-size pickets that play with light and shadow and change pitch when canes are run across them

Sculpture for the garden. created three interactive, kid-size bronze sculptures modeled . All elements on the sculptures, from a book with a readable Braille surface to the differently shaped buttons on a girl's blouse, are meant to encourage exploration through touch

Hazelwood School

Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Design Team: Gordon Murray and Alan Dunlop

Age (student): (3-18) years

circulation

The distinctive curving interior spine meets the complex demands for an intuitive way finding system

the curved form of the building reduces the visual scale of the main circulation spaces and helps remove the institutional feel that a single long corridor might create

Focus room

The focus-learning rooms offer viewing for staff and visitors without disturbing the children. These areas also offer quiet time as needed

Classrooms are oriented north facing to take advantage of a more even level of light and open onto the quietist part of the grounds, the classroom garden spaces

Large classrooms with ample storage space and adaptable areas between the classrooms

Hydrotherapy pool

The design of the games hall, hydrotherapy pool created opportunities for children to explore, extend their skill &gain confidence through engagement in relatively independent activity.

A separate residential unit, is used to teach the children basic life skills but also provides respite accommodation.

Life skills house

The playground and playground furnishings enable children the freedom to play and take risks at their own level playground

Mature trees, walkways, and a play yard with wooden climbing structures and swings create a park-like setting for the school grounds.

High-level windowsare used as some of the students with visual impairments can be easily distracted by (movements/activities occurring outside.)

The external structure and the cladding were all considered in terms of sensory stimulation. The structural glulam* timber frame casts shadows within the building to establish a clear pattern along the internal street of the school

Materials used

-zinc on the roof-timber-brick-glass

The “trail rail” wall

The unique sensory trail wall weaves throughout the school and enables children to practice mobility and orientation skills, which lead to increased confidence, sense of mastery, and self-esteem.The trail rail wall is clad in cork, which has a warm feel and provides signifiers or tactile cues to assist children with orientation and navigation through the school

The defining component of the interior design is the cork-clad ‘trail wall’ that meets navigation needs on one side and the extensive needs for storage on the opposite side. It runs the length of the building and enables children to navigate independently

Each bay of sensory trail wall is individually shaped. This helps children orient along the length of the circulation space in the school

Within two weeks of exposure to the trail wall system, they were successfully moving around the building independently.

Corridors are designed as streets, which also assist with orientation and mobility

Educational Method

The school evaluates pupils' skills & likes but focuses particularly on English Language & communication and mathematics

Royal Academy for the visually disabled people

Location: Tabarbour- Amman

The concept of the project:

Engineering design philosophy of the Royal Academy for the visually disabled peopleVisually impaired people, in their movements, depend on what is called Spatial Mental Map Design. Such requires easy simple design of construction, especially; in making clear lines for main movements and functional separation in divisions/departments. This is to draw a spatial map for such building in their minds; thus, it will be easy for them to move easily, safely and independently.

-

Circulation

Ground floor

Entrance

The building takes the (L) shape so the circulation is linear and straight

the Lighting in the school

The school has a skylight which gives a blue light (strong blue light and from my readings this light bothers blind people and is not comforting them so it’s one of the disadvantages of this school

Building Way finding for the blind

1-The handrail along the corridors and the stairs

2-On the handrail of the stairs there is a circle to tell them which the floor they are

3-Also there is a circle on the wall in different shape ,to tell them (the num of the floor)

4-There is Contrast between the wall and the doors, but the Doorknob is not legible because its with the same color

5-but it’s not clear enough in the stairs even the texture is not enough for preventing people from glide, and the floors soft

6-The titles of every space or room very legible for the visually impairment or for the blind, because it’s wrote by Braille and there is a simple drawing logo for each title expresses the function of the room and they can recognize it by touching that logo

The gym on the Basement floor beside the Fitness and warm water therapy The floor made of the rubber ,but there is a high echo in the gym

warm water therapy

The library

Plugs under ground for the computers

It's a room for visually impairments which still have sight and can read but only large letters. This room strengths their sights and the room is colored by black for reading easily

Playing field

kindergarten

The corridors are wide but becomes narrow in the kindergarten section

these seats are located in the garden of the school and they were put to close the void behind it; but I found that it's not safe for blind students and the slope of the location is very high around 15m

The titles of the rooms wrote in Braille

they are learning computer programs on a special system made specifically for the blinds, even the keyboard has numbers and letters in Braille

The bottoms of elevator wrote in Braille

visually impaired as a design challenge

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