Universal design planning is what design students are taught to consider standard design practice now. In learning about universal design and ADA standards we have been taught about wheel chair accessibility previously, but for us to move forward in our designs we are now learning to design for vision disability.
To do this we were asked to experience our environment legally blind to learn personally what should be considered in our design. Groups of two went through the campus book store and to the library with dark glasses smeared with petroleum jelly, greatly impairing our ability to see. Major obstacles proved to be spaces with low contrast in color and texture, and stairs with poor contrast. Also small, low contrast, or complicated text shapes proved hard to decipher. Another problem with spaces we noted was their lighting. It either was very low and made contrast in spaces harder to pick up, or was very bright and irritating. Some good design we noted were dark red or bright green elevator walls with the contrast of the shiny elevator doors. The texture change and contrast helped us to understand there was a space change and guided us. Also the in the library where there was very little value change in finishes, the stairs had dark strips of texture laid into their edges telling us where a plane change was and to step down.
With this experience and extensive readings on vision disability, designing for vision disabilities according to ADA standards makes practical sense after experiencing it.
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