1.97million people who have some significant loss of vision, but not sufficient to be considered for registration and the expanding ageing population faces difficulties in wayfinding and accessibility. Whilst visual impairment rarely leads to a total absence of light perception, or blindness, often colour perception and the ability to see fine detail is impaired. Research also identified that the strategy adopted by visually impaired people is of paramount importance in deciding where, and how, sources are used within a building to impart information. All users would benefit from increasing the clarity of visual clues and information that is provided in transport infrastructures. Studies to date have not considered any additional difficulties brought about by restricted vision, while navigating around and identifying features which may be present in future transport environments.
People generally require longer to understand visual information as they grow older.
Preliminary studies by the Applicants suggests that some stages in the design of transport environments, facilities, products and services assume that another department or agency has either resolved these issues already or are not aware of growing accessibility issues today. Similarly designers and architects often do not see themselves accountable for these solutions or receive feedback on dissatisfaction. Solutions, for the needs of visually impaired users, are not currently being delivered. This proposal addresses the combined issues of lighting and colour design in wayfinding. Visually impaired people should be able to use transport environments with confidence without stress.