And a clip stolen from no_pity

[conuly]

My friend Darkly says that most people are too stupid to get it. I disagree - but then, this is my species, I may be biased. So, who do you think is right?

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

I don't know... I think the traffic lights around here are completely neutral and non-offensive. They chirp at a volume that varies by the ambient noise level so you can find them, they vibrate when it is safe to cross. If you press and hold them down, they announce the names of the streets you are currently at and then also chirp when it is safe to cross while also vibrating. They are at wheelchair height.

I view them as accomodating of all needs as I can think of them to be, and they make as few assumptions as possible.

Oh, there are also some funny pictures on some boxes totally on the other side of the street, but that strikes me as terribly impractical, especially when sometimes the sun would get right in your eyes if you looked at them.

[conuly]

*grins*

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

That's spiffy, and I'm kind of jealous that ours are boring. *grins*

I really meant, though, that it'd cost a lot to go around to all the previously installed walk/don't walk signs and change them to something non-walky. The ones here have buttons, but I secretly doubt the buttons do anything anyhow, and are only there so that I can press them and feel good about myself.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I refer to those as "placebo buttons". :) Some of them do actually affect the light, it depends on the area and potentially on the time of day.

I just wanted to have some fun and point out that there are alternatives that work for everyone and don't make assumptions. It's not as simple as changing the words "walk" "dont walk" (which annoys me more for the word "dont" than the word "walk". But crossings can actually be made accessible in more fundamental ways, which as a side effect doesn't make assumptions about the people who use the crosswalks.

Not all of the crossings here work the way I described. Some only have lights and chirping, which makes it harder to keep track of where you are and is harder on the deaf-blind. And some only have the standard crosswalk lights, which is harder on me. But if more of the country became fully accessible, or as accessible as people can think to make things, then as a side effect it also would make the language issue fairly moot.

I also think that crosswalks that announce where you are on request would be helpful to a large number of people, not just the blind.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

I also think that crosswalks that announce where you are on request would be helpful to a large number of people, not just the blind.

Agreed! That sounds really helpful.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

That all sounds cool. In Vienna (and I'm sure I've seen this somewhere else in Europe) they have raised diagrams on the side of the box thingy (where you press the button) which show how many lanes of traffice there are, which direction it's going, and I think whether it's a crossroad or a t-junction or just a single road or what. I thought that was cool.

And to stop myself making an assumption - is it standard in the US for crossings to have the bumpy paving slabs? *Spends an age looking up what they're called* Ah ha, blister paving (http://www.pavingexpert.com/tactile01.htm) it seems. The page is an interesting read actually.

[rachelkachel]

It's common - I've seen it lots of places - but I don't think it's standard by any means. Crosswalks have huge variations.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I'm confused by your combination of the word "standard" with "US" in your sentence. You seem to be under the assumption that the US has standards...

I like those tactile diagrams though - that's nifty.

The US varies highly as to what it does to accomodate people. From - there is absolutely no way to safely navigate this area unless you're in a car so don't even try and we'll laugh if you suggest sidewalks or bicycle paths to really friendly, corner cut curbs, and the traffic lights I described. I have seen some blistered areas, but not much. I see more the textured ground stuff when I'm using BART, which is my local train system. Trains/Subways often texture the area before the giant hole of doom to warn people that they're getting close. BART textures the area near where the doors stop with a different texture. At least, at most stops.

The problem is nothing is really uniform. Where I live, the crosswalks make a different sound for when it's safe to cross east-west versus north-south. But I've been told that you can't rely on that as there is no standard and each area will make up its own rules. Which makes travel much more exciting. Imagine if some places used green means go and red means stop and some places used a dinosaur and a teddy bear and you were trying to figure out what on Earth you're supposed to do.

[conuly]

BART textures the area near where the doors stop with a different texture. At least, at most stops.

Ooh, nice. I wish they did that here, it'd be useful for everyone.

Imagine if some places used green means go and red means stop and some places used a dinosaur and a teddy bear and you were trying to figure out what on Earth you're supposed to do.

Which is why there's *supposed* to be some sort of international standard for traffic signals and whatnot, but....

[leora.livejournal.com]

It is. The regular strip is yellow and the areas where the doors are are black. So, everyone knows where to cluster to quickly and efficiently get onto the train. :)

[deceptica]

We do? I never noticed that...