A study on barrier-free design principle

摘要

In this report we discuss the concept of barrier-free from the viewpoint of designing effective service for users. In the first part of this report, we discuss how Braille pavers are used in a real situation where these are used for people with visual impairment including blind people to get orientation information in walking with or without a cane. In the second part, we consider these situations from the point of designing barrier-free circumstances in every day life. We point out the importance of surroundings that affect the actual effectiveness of barrier-free devices, and the usefulness of utilising the method of user participation design (UPD), or user centered design (UCD) in designing barrier-free devices. We also point out an important role of ordinary people who are not direct users of the devices; an important role for keeping these devices effective.