Ineffective “Barrier-free Acoustic Design” for Visually Impaired Persons

摘要

Auditory information is one of the most important types of sensory input for the visually impaired and is essential for orientation and mobility. Well-designed sound signals can be ofgreat help, and these kinds of sounds should be made available in public spaces in order to create barrier-free areas. However, inappropriate sounds are not only useless for the visually impaired, but they also create noise for both impaired and non-impaired people alike. Unfortunately, in Japan there are several types of inappropriate sounds that have been put to use in these so-called barrier-free areas.In this study, interviews with visually impaired persons were conducted to reveal the types ofinadequately designed sounds and why they are not useful. The results indicated at least six maincategories of defective barrier-free acoustic design that occur when (1) a sound level is too low, (2) asound reverberates too much to enable orientation, (3) similar sounds are set up in the same neighborhood, (4) inappropriate announcements are made, (5) sounds are provided at inappropriate places or times, and (6) information provided by the sounds remains unknown among visually impaired citizens. Responses from the visually impaired participants in this study also suggest that a reason why such inefficiencies occur is poor communication among the visually impaired, administrators and/or acoustic designers; which can arise from mistaken needs-assessments, gaps in technical knowledge, and disparities in power/political relationships.