Understanding each individual
client’s needs is a crucial part in being able to design a space that is the
most suitable for them. Recently, I had the opportunity to experience what it
would be like to be visually impaired. After completing this exercise I have a
new understanding of how living with some sort of vision impairment affects a
person’s experience in a space.
To mimic how it would be to be
blind I did a few different things to try and get the best possible
representation of what it would be like to be visually impaired. The first
thing that I did was put a plastic bad in front of my face and attempted to
read a newspaper, which proved to be very challenging. Everything appeared to
be very blurred and difficult to read without getting extremely close to the
paper. However, the larger the text the easier it was to read. Then, using the
same plastic bag, I folded it in half and attempted to look through it. This
exercise represented being legally blind. When looking through the folded
plastic bag it was hard to see anything at all. I could make out the general
shapes of things and some colors, but trying to read the newspaper was
virtually impossible. The room I was sitting in was very well lit, which I
noticed was very helpful as it made way finding and seeing larger shapes much
more manageable.
Another exercise that I completed
to simulate visual impairment was looking through a vision simulator, which had
four different circles of vision loss to look through. The first vision simulation was central
vision loss. In this example the center of my vision was lost which required me
to turn my head from side to side in order to get a full circumference of
vision. The next example was loss of parts of vision. This type of vision loss
made everything seem fuzzy and made things in the room seem very distorted.
Tunnel vision was the next simulation. With this type of vision loss it
required me to move my head a lot more than was comfortable in order to see
everything, much like the central vision loss example. Finally, the last
example of vision impairment was complete blindness. With this example I could
not see anything.
The final exercise I participated
in was wearing a pair of sunglasses smeared with petroleum jelly, which created
a type of homemade vision impairment glasses. Wearing these glasses made my
vision appear very blurry, but I was still able to see outlines, shapes,
colors, light and if I got close enough, I could read some words. While wearing
these glasses I walked around campus and tried to complete basic tasks. I rode
an elevator and had to make sure I was punching in the right buttons to get to
the right floor, I tried to use an ATM which proved to be very challenging
because I had to get very close to the buttons to use them, and I also climbed
stairs which proved to not be quite as difficult as I would have imagined. The
stairs were white, but they had black no-slip strips on the edges of them,
which helped me decipher one step from the next.
Doing these exercises gave me a
much more comprehensive understanding of the challenges associated with being
visually impaired, and will help me when designing spaces for someone with this
type of disability. I learned that using
contrasting colors between different levels of floor is extremely helpful,
along with handrails to give people something to hold on to for extra support.
Using no-slip strips on stairs is also a necessity on stairs to prevent injury
on stairs. The use of natural and artificial light in spaces is also very
important because it helps to better be able to see outlines and colors of
objects within the space. Finally, using text that is bright or contrasting in
color to it’s background is important, especially when the text is trying to
convey an important message such as exit signs. Also, the larger the size of
the text the easier it is to see. Overall, participating in these exercises was
a beneficial experience from me and will help me in future design projects.
Me looking through a plastic bag on campus.
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