Accessible Design for the Blind

Blind african businessman in business office

The World Health Organization estimates that over two billion people worldwide live with a visual disability.1 Therefore, running a business means making it accessible to all customers, including those with color blindness and who are legally blind or otherwise visually impaired. When you empower these customers to access your business safely, easily, and independently, you can impact the way they experience the world.

Reasons for Accessible Design

Making your business more accessible to those with blindness or visual impairment is a good idea for multiple reasons.

It’s a Legal Requirement

First, business owners are bound by the laws set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to provide accommodations to those with disabilities. In doing so, your business is communicating both its commitment to upholding this law and its refusal to discriminate against these individuals.

It Supports Independence

Thanks to technology and assistive devices, a vast majority of people with visual impairments  are able to enjoy more independence than ever before. Increasing accessibility at your location supports this independence.

It Is All-Inclusive

Visual impairment occurs across an incredibly wide spectrum. Incorporating design that provides accessibility for anyone with any level and type of visual impairment ensures that all, including people with visual impairments, can safely and easily enter, exit, and navigate your business.

It Expands Your Understanding

A sighted person may not realize the way in which those with vision impairment perceive the world around them. In exploring accessible design options, you gain a better understanding about how to use certain elements to optimize the customer experience.

It Is Cost-Effective

When you choose the right accessibility products, you can be assured of reasonable cost without having to shut down during business hours.

Forms of Accessible Design

blind man and woman walking on the street using a white walking stick

Accessible design can consist of any or all of the following:

  • Sound, which helps direct individuals unable to receive visual cues
  • Color, which can call attention to changes in the immediate environment
  • Light, which can assist those with low vision to see important areas, like entrances and stairs, more clearly
  • Tactile products, which communicate environmental changes or indicate landmarks from the ground
  • Temperature, which offers subtle cues to visually impaired customers that they are entering a different environment
  • Stability-enhancing features, which allow individuals to maintain physical balance

All of the above forms are available in a wide range of products, which include:

  • Motion- or button-activated features, which emit sound that can guide
  • Bright-colored paint, which can be applied to step lips and landings, along with a virtually endless amount of surfaces
  • Lights, which can be mounted in hallways and vestibules and on stairways to improve visibility
  • ADA-compliant handrails, which contain features to increase the safety of use
  • Detectable warning panels consisting of domes, which communicate environmental changes

How ADA Solutions Products Can Help

tactile paving with textured ground surface with markings

ADA Solutions specializes in the creation of detectable warning systems for businesses wanting to increase or improve accessibility to individuals with visual and physical challenges. Our products include radius systems, graphic tiles, way-finding surfaces, photoluminescent systems, and tactile panels.

Radius tactile systems assist individuals with navigating surfaces that change in contour, such as a curb ramp.

Graphic tiles feature photographic-quality artwork and color to communicate information, as well as raised domes for tactile communication.

Way-finding surfaces are available in both bar and guide tile styles for optimal navigational assistance.

Photoluminescent systems are charged with ambient light to provide bright visual cues to individuals where illumination is inadequate.

Tactile panels feature domes that provide clear and unmistakable cues indicating upcoming surface transitions.

Many of these products are ready for foot traffic as soon as they’ve been installed, with very little downtime.

Why Choose ADA Solutions Products?

stonescape home

ADA Solutions manufactures all of its leading detectable warning systems from premium-quality materials. All of our universal designs are manufactured in our own state-of-the-art facility to ISO 9002 standards.

In addition, all ADA Solutions products meet or exceed all state and federal accessibility standards and offer ease-of-installation as well as construction that offers long-term resistance to the elements.

Products including our graphic warning systems allow you to customize your image or message for maximum reach. Many of our products are also fully and easily replaceable and don’t require extensive concrete disturbance or the cordoning off of a large area to install or replace.

Whether you require a temporary solution or wish to install permanent products to provide visually impaired individuals with assistance for accessing your business, ADA Solutions is a North American leader with products that have been designed by experts in the accessibility industry. Those who install our products are professionally certified in proper installation procedure.

If you’re a business owner looking to enhance accessibility for your visually impaired customers, ADA Solutions can help you to achieve this goal. We invite you to view our product lines and request free samples at our website or call 1-800-372-0519 for more information.

Sources:

  1. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment

What Is Tactile Paving?

Tactile Paving On Railroad Station Platform By Train

Tactile paving refers to the panels, surface indicators, or detectable warning plates used near street crossings and on transportation platforms. A common form uses rows of truncated domes, arranged in a grid pattern, which can be felt under foot or by a wheelchair or cane. Other plates consist of rows of long narrow bars to help guide a visually impaired pedestrian on a certain path.

While tactile paving solutions have become more commonplace with modifications to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines, they are not new. Here is a look at the history of tactile warning systems and why they are so important.

History of Tactile Warning Tiles

Tactile pavers were developed by Seichi Miyake, who was inspired by Braille, and they were first introduced in 1965. They were installed for the first time in 1967 on a street in Okayama, Japan. They debuted at a single crosswalk near a school for the blind but were soon used at pedestrian crossings around the country. The technology proved to be such a success that Japan National Railways adopted it system wide.

Truncated domes in front of a building entrance to a sidewalk

The paving system was formally named “Hazard Guide for the Vision Impaired” in 1985. Its original design featured precast concrete, but later paving included concrete, ceramic, polyurethane, cast iron, and stainless steel. Two types of paving emerged in modern times; a design with small, round bumps and a directional aid with longer, more slender bumps.

Tactile ground surface indicators began appearing elsewhere in the 1990s. The United States, UK, and Australia followed Japan’s lead in using them. Having been used in many Asian cities, they were installed at all Sydney Olympic Games facilities in 2000. By the early 2000s, Canada had integrated tactile paving systems into transportation and other developed areas.

Tactile Paving and the ADA

Currently, tactile paving is regulated in the U.S. It is mandated by the U.S. Access Board in places like train platforms and at the ends of sidewalks. The Board promotes accessible design and standards for the built environment that accommodate people who have disabilities. Businesses in the private and local government sector must follow ADA guidelines while the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA), passed in 1990, applies to properties built with federal funds or leased by federal agencies.

Why Are Tactile Pavers Important for the Visually Impaired?

The raised domes or bars communicate a message to visually impaired pedestrians about navigation. They mark transition points, so pedestrians are aware of where a safe route turns into a roadway, such as at a curb ramp. Tactile surfaces are also used to signal a person to take caution near stairways.

yellow Tactile paving to assist pedestrians

Partially sighted individuals benefit as well. While one might not see the difference in levels along a path, they can often see the bright or contrasting colors of the panels. Patterns of domes or grooves may be evident as well.

Tactile paving:

  • Accommodates Universal Design elements such as curb cuts.
  • Provides tactile feedback through footwear and audible feedback when touched by a cane.
  • Allows the visually impaired to navigate unaided and without concern for safety.
  • Must have at least 70% color contrast per ADA guidelines.
  • Comes in many colors to provide contrast with various surfaces.
  • Has an anti-slip surface to minimize any fall hazards.
  • Comes in multiple sizes and can be cut without voiding the warranty.
  • Is non-porous, so water isn’t absorbed and wintry weather does not affect quality.

An important trait of warning plates is they are built of durable materials and often painted or powder coated. Cast iron plates oxidize into a coating that maintains a contrasting color. Tactile warning surfaces do not wear out so are well-suited for use in heavily traveled urban areas.

Tactile Paving that ADA Solutions Provides

ADA Solutions provides cast-in-place truncated dome detectable warning surfaces. Our Cast-in-Place Paver Tactile Surface panel features a durable design with a heavy panel and supporting embedment ribs, also ensuring a strong bond, and homogeneous glass, carbon, and fiberglass-reinforced composite material that’s durable, colorfast, and UV stable. The ¼” thick panel installs into freshly poured concrete and is completely secure when the surface dries.

Cast in Place Yellow ADA Tile

Our products feature 0.9” diameter, 0.2” high truncated domes with a center-to-center spacing of 2.35”. The panels are 0.25” thick (not including the domes), and they don’t use paint to achieve color stability. They’re also moisture- and chemical-resistant. ADA Solutions’ cast-in-place pavers and other tactile warning surface products comply with the ADA Accessibility Guidelines, Public Right-of-Way, and California Title 24 requirements and are approved by all major municipalities, state departments of transportation, and departments of public works.

Request a Free Quote Today

Our cast-in-place tactile paving products meet all ADA guidelines pertaining to pedestrian safety. At ADA Solutions, we manufacture these and other warning surfaces at an ISO 9002 certified facility in Ohio. To learn more or request a free quote, call 800-372-0519 today.

California ADA Requirements

california ada requirements feature image

This guide to small business ADA requirements in California will help your business or public facility achieve compliance and avoid the most common pitfalls. Are you wondering if the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to your business? If your doors are open to the public, or you maintain an outdoor public space, the answer is almost certainly yes.

The California ADA requirements that are outlined here require specific ramp slopes, tactile strips, and other design elements that will help protect you from ADA lawsuits. The most common ADA violations that might result in expensive fines can be avoided by using the right ADA compliant materials.

California businesses pay an estimated 20 million dollars in ADA fines and legal costs each year. With penalties starting at $4000 per offense, it pays to review this visual guide and ADA inspection checklist, and keep it handy for your next safety meeting or remodelling project.

Don’t get caught on the wrong side of these important regulations or become a target for smear campaigns and groups doing their own inspections in order to find a reason to file a complaint. Use this guide to California ADA requirements to help put your business ahead of the curve and breeze through your next ADA inspection.

California ADA Requirements Infographic

Click below to embed this infographic into your website: