George Xinos of Functional Access Solutions will be co-presenting a three day workshop on home modifications along with Occupational Therapist, Wendy Chandler.

The workshop is part of Yooralla's Assistive Technology Learning program and will be held on Monday 13 October 2014, Monday 20 October 2014 and Tuesday 21 October 2014, at the Independent Living Centre, 705 Princes Hwy, Brooklyn, Victoria.

This will be a 'hands on' workshop, held over two weeks to allow participants to apply learned content in their own workplace and consolidate learning outcomes.


Learning outcomes include:

• Increase understanding of DDA, BCA, AS 1428 and their relevance to modifying private residences.
• Understand some of the legal implications for therapists and clients.
• Increase awareness of possible design faults and develop knowledge and strategies to avoid these.
• Gain an understanding of home modification in the context of more specialised areas such as bariatrics, palliative care, environmental control & dementia.
• Opportunity to work through case studies, and discuss and review ideas and examples of well integrated home modifications.
• Gain confidence in communicating recommendations graphically and producing suitable specifications / scopes of work.
• Work through examples of more complex home modifications.
  

For more information or to book your place please download the workshop flyer, or contact Yooralla's Assistive Technology Learning on (03) 9362 6111 or 1300 885 886.

In 2010 the National Dialogue for Universal Housing Design took place at Kirribilli House. The National Dialogue was the result of the previous Australian Government inviting housing industry leaders and community leaders representing people with disability and older people to address the issue of a lack of suitable housing stock in Australia.

Members of the National Dialogue included the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Australian Institute of Architects, National People with Disabilities and Carers Council, The Property Council of Australia, and Stockland amongst several others. The overarching aim of convening the group was to address the lack of accessible housing available in Australia, this in light of an ageing population and an increasingly impending crises in housing approaching.

A number of activities have been initiated at a state and municipal level across Australia to better address this issue, however the direct result of the National Dialogue was the establishment of Livable Housing Australia (LHA) in 2011. The strategies implemented by LHA were developing the Livable Housing Design (LHD) Guidelines, commencing a certification process based on compliance with the Guidelines, establishing mechanisms and registering assessors to support the accreditation process, and the ongoing promotion of the Guidelines to industry. Compliance and subsequent certification remains an entirely voluntary scheme to builders and developers.

The stated aim of the Guidelines are to produce homes which are easier and safer to use for all occupants inclusive of people with disabilities, older people, people with temporary disabilities and families with young children. They state that a ‘livable home is designed to:

·        Be easy to enter and exit;
·        Be easy to move around in;
·        Be capable of easy and cost effective adaption; and
·        Anticipate and respond to the changing needs of home occupants.’

Three performance levels are identified under the guidelines – Silver, Gold and Platinum levels. Silver is the least onerous and focuses on key spatial elements allowing for future adaptability of the home at far lower cost to the occupant. Gold allows larger circulation to key areas within the home and extends to other areas such as the kitchen and bathroom. Platinum circulation requirements increase further and includes further features such living room and flooring guidelines.

During the initial convening of the National Dialogue, a number of agreed targets were identified regarding uptake by industry and the general community. These included:

·        25% to Silver level by 2013;
·        50% to Silver Level by 2015;
·        75% to Silver level by 2018; and,
·        100% to Silver level by 2020.

Agreement was also reached to review uptake at two to three year intervals across the nominated 10 year period with the review including residential building, aged care as well as public and social housing. This review was not however initiated by the National Dialogue or by government. As a result and as a founding member of the National Dialogue, the Australian Network for Universal Housing Design (ANUHD) in conjunction with RI Australia, recently published a report attempting to assess progress against the aforementioned targets.

The report states that in early May 2014 LHA had issued 294 certificates across Australia with 24 of these actually built. LHA did however also state at the time that 500 dwellings were registered for certification but had not yet been certified, that they identified over 1850 other dwellings which claim to have been designed or built to at least Silver level but had not registered for certification, and that they anticipate that there are hundreds more dwellings delivered which would meet the Silver level requirements of the Guideline.

The report goes on to suggest that in light of conservative estimates for new housing starts per year at approximately 140,000, the initial goals of the National Dialogue have not and will not be met. That even with the limited data available, it was clear that the housing industry has not responded to the voluntary scheme and that without sufficient incentives little progress is likely to be seen in future.

ANUHD and RI Australia’s recommendations following their review were for Government to continue supporting and evaluating the stated targets, but also assess the impact that minimum features to all housing being adopted would have on individual residents as well as on cost projections of home modifications and funded services for older people and people with disabilities. Where the target of Silver level features to 50% of new housing is not achieved in 2015, their recommendation is that minimum access requirements for housing be incorporated into the BCA as a priority.

In more positive news for the scheme, soon after the publishing of the report Grocon announced that they will commit to all future Grocon residential developments meeting the Livable Housing Design Guidelines. Maybe a change is yet to come?

George Xinos
Functional Access Solutions

For some time mobility scooters have been exponentially increasing in prevalence in the general community. They have offered older people and people with mobility difficulties a relatively cost effective option which has been targeted predominantly at outdoor mobility.

Mobility scooter users will often be able to ambulate independently over shorter distances or use alternative forms of mobility equipment such as a walking stick, crutches or a wheeled walking aid. The powered mobility scooter therefore provides assistance with many community based activities such as accessing the local shopping area, or visiting a municipal space where longer distances generally need to be negotiated. Some users however find that their mobility and seating needs are best addressed by mobility scooters in all situations and therefore also use these in the indoor environments they need to access and visit.

Mobility scooters by nature of the terrain and application they are designed for are however substantially larger than a powered or manual wheelchair and therefore also require significantly larger circulation spaces in order to be operated safely and independently.

The relevant Australian Standard that informs the Building Code of Australia with regard to circulation spaces within buildings, AS1428.1:2009 Design for access and mobility - General requirements for access - New building work, is based on research undertaken some time ago. This research did not include mobility scooters and as a consequence most buildings are not very accommodating to this form of mobility.

Research has been recently commissioned by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) regarding current wheelchair dimensions and to review the building feature dimensions currently contained in the relevant Australian Standard. The scope of the updated research again does not allow for the inclusion of mobility scooters. The difficulties currently encountered by mobility scooter users are likely to therefore continue well into the future.

The Australian Human Rights Commission recently published an Advisory Note on the use of Mobility Scooters in Registered Clubs. This Note was instigated by an approach from the RSL & Services Clubs Association in response to issues arising from increased scooter use within their clubs. The Note acknowledges the difficulties of accommodating scooters in the context of highly variable existing buildings but also provides some useful suggestions in managing the issue more effectively. Some of these include:

·        Providing designated parking areas for scooters, preferably indoors and clear of pathways, exits and entries, and with clear signage designating their location;

·        Modifying or rearranging key areas likely to require additional circulation such as seating areas, ATMs, public telephones, etc.;

·        Providing designated and accessible recharging points;

·        Developing and displaying mobility maps directing people to the designated parking and charge points as well the most accessible paths within the building;

·        Providing intermittent seating through buildings for people only able to walk short distances;

·        Automating entry points and key doorways in the facility;

·        Developing an Action Plan (as defined under the Disability Discrimination Act (1992)) which considers organisational policies and programs as well as future modifications to improve access to people with disabilities.

Even though the measures raised in the Note are provided in the context of existing buildings, useful insights can be gained by building owners and designers in the planning and design of new buildings or new building parts. Given that designing to the Building Code of Australia will not necessarily provide a scooter friendly environment gaining advice from a suitably accredited Access Consultant is advisable.

Informal schemes have emerged where local public facilities and businesses can be listed as places where people are welcome to go and charge their device while in the community, with often large networks established. A more consistent approach across a broader range of buildings would however greatly contribute to the availability as well as the confidence of mobility scooter users in the community.


George Xinos
Functional Access Solutions

Floor finishes can have a significant aesthetic impact within a building and are often selected with the intention to make a statement as to what the building sets out to communicate and inspire. High gloss finishes and bold high impact designs have always had a presence in monumental public buildings, but many other types of buildings, such as your average suburban shopping center, now also aspire to a similar aesthetic. This inevitably raises the question of what functional impacts such aspirations might have.

People with balance and mobility difficulties are obviously a group at higher risk of sustaining injuries as a result of a fall. In Australia, a staggering 144,000 hospital day beds annually are attributed to admissions due to falls. Many of these falls can occur due to operational issues such as food stuffs being dropped within a food and beverage area, however a great many can also be attributed to the design of the built environment.


Glare / Reflectivity
Highly reflective floor finishes can be a significant source of glare; all the more troubling given the extensive surface area floor finishes, by nature, are applied to. Significant sources of glare can be extremely disorienting for many people, not just people with low vision, as the ability to locate important landmarks for orientation can be affected. Of greater concern however, is the possibility of sources of potential hazard (e.g. an unnoticed step, piece of furniture, or change in gradient) going undetected due to the presence of glare.


Wayfinding and Orientation
Selecting floor finishes which contrast with abutting finishes at walls and furnishings, assists in defining a space more effectively and clearly establishing pathways and movement through a building. This of course reduces the risk of trips, falls and collisions; and provides natural and intuitive cues for where movement should occur in order to locate key areas within the building.

When selecting contrasting finishes, luminance contrast is what is considered to be most perceivable to people with low vision. Luminance contrast is described as a comparison of light being reflected by two surfaces; not necessarily just colour. A luminance contrast of no less than 30% is what is considered to be appropriate for most people with low vision. For information on how this can be tested, appendices are included within AS 1428 Parts 1 and 4.


Patterned Designs and Flooring Layout
Flooring designs that include bold elements set together can be confusing to a person with low vision. These include contrasting tiles set together within a location, a bold pattern on a carpet weave, or mosaics with large bold elements. These can often be mistaken for a change in level or even a physical item placed on the floor.


Tolerances and Transitions in Flooring
Very small changes in level can be detrimental to people with mobility difficulties who are ambulant as well as those who use any type of wheeled mobility aid. Transitions of only a few millimeters can become the source of a fall, or a barrier which prevents a person from accessing areas within buildings which must be made available to all members of the public. AS 1428 Part 1 advises of changes in level of up to 3mm (5mm where individual tiles / surfaces a beveled or rounded). Carpet pile heights should be less than 6mm and recessed where applicable.


Slip Resistance
Recent changes to the Building Code of Australia (BCA 2014) now see a requirement for slip resistance at stairs and ramps. Step ramps, that is, pedestrian ramps with a gradient of 1:10 will require a higher level of slip resistance to longer 1:14 ramps. Designers and specifiers are also allowed flexibility with designing floor finishes on stair treads by either providing a suitably slip resistant surface to the entire tread or to just the nosing of each tread as well as the landing edge. The specific slip resistant values necessary are include in the BCA and the method of assessment is outlined in the Australian Standard AS 4586: 2013 Slip resistance classification of new pedestrian surface materials.

Even though the BCA does not require other pedestrian surfaces to meet a particular level of slip resistance designers are best advised to consider HB 197: 1999 - An introductory guide to the slip resistance of pedestrian surface materials in their selection of floor finishes.


Other Building Elements
Stairs are an area where falls often occur and, of course, where the resulting injury can be particularly serious in nature. Highlighting stairs at the nosing of the goings is an effective strategy which can assist in preventing unnecessary falls. A solid continuous band (50-75mm in depth) with a high level of slip resistance and luminance contrast should always be provided in these instances.

Tactile ground surface indicators are now a BCA requirement in public areas where potential hazards occur (i.e. stairs, ramps, road crossings), and of course provide a vital cue to people with vision impairment in locating these hazards. These must also provide a luminance contrast of no less than 30% - it is recommended that these are tested as a matter of fact in each application and subjective judgments of colour are not made as this can be both misleading and inaccurate.

George Xinos
Functional Access Solutions

George Xinos of Functional Access Solutions will be co-presenting a whole day workshop focusing on bathroom modifications with Occupational Therapist, Alison Schneider.

The workshop is part of the Yooralla's Assistive Technology Learning program and will be held on Tuesday 24 June 2014  at The Independent Living Centre, 705 Princes Hwy, Brooklyn, Victoria.

Learning outcomes include:

• Increased knowledge about bathroom design and prescription
• Increased confidence in designing & reading plans of bathroom modifications
• Increased knowledge about what to look for when choosing common fittings and fixtures
• Increased knowledge of relevant Australian Standards & BCA
• Problem solving challenging bathroom modification situations
• And more…

For more information or to book your place at the workshop please visit the Yooralla Assistive Technology Learning website.

The recently tabled federal budget has outlined the Government’s plan to axe one of the commissioner roles at the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). Graeme Innes’ term as the current Disability Discrimination Commissioner is reaching an end in June this year, and the Government’s intention is to merge this role with the portfolio of one of the other Commissioners at the AHRC. The details of this merging of roles and impact of what is likely to be a reduction in capacity in the area are yet to be addressed however.

The Disability Discrimination Commissioner’s role is multifaceted. The Commissioner is charged with promoting an understanding and acceptance of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)(1992). This may occur by way of a number of functions inclusive of research, advising and informing the relevant Minister regarding laws and enactments relating to discrimination on the ground of disability, monitoring the development of relevant Standards under the Act, as well as developing and publishing guidelines to assist in the avoidance of discrimination.

The DDA (1992) addresses discrimination on the grounds of disability in a number of areas such as education, employment, goods and services, and access to premises. The definition of premises is very broad under the Act but of course includes buildings and places that the public are allowed to enter. The Act also allows for Disability Standards to be formulated to further define relevant strategies, adjustments, and exemptions.

In 2010 the Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards were released with the objects of the standard being twofold:

‘to ensure that dignified, equitable, cost effective and reasonably achievable access to buildings, and facilities and services within buildings, is provided…’; and

‘to give certainty to building certifiers, building developers and building managers…’

 

To address the later, efforts were made to replicate most of the requirements of the Standard with that of the access requirements of the Building Code of Australia (BCA); this with the view to harmonising these as far as practicable.

The mechanism for beginning proceedings in the event of discrimination occurring, is via complaint to the AHRC. The AHRC consequently attempt to resolve complaints relating to disability discrimination by way of conciliation. Where complainants believe their complaint has not been adequately resolved, the complaint can be referred to the Federal Court of Australia. Where considered appropriate to do so, the Commission may also intervene in such court proceedings.

The AHRC Disability Discrimination Commissioner role is therefore pivotal in achieving the objects of the Act and relevant Disability Standards and significant concern has been consequently aired in recent weeks.

Some of this concern has centred on the capacity of another commissioner to adequately address the needs of people with disabilities, their families and networks on the basis of resources alone. The incumbent, Mr. Innes himself, has also suggested that having a Commissioner responsible for disability discrimination and not having a disability themselves as an issue. He describes that as the Sex Discrimination Commissioner should be a woman and the Aged Discrimination Commissioner should be an older person, the Commissioner responsible for disability discrimination should also have the ‘lived’ experience of disability in order to be able to fulfil their role effectively.

In some parts of the community there also appears to be a perception that the DDA is inherently ‘weak’ given the onus is on people with disabilities and their associates to initiate and pursue complaints. The recent events have given cause for this concern to grow further.

The change is likely to have a tangible effect on disability discrimination and how it relates to building design as well as the existing stock of buildings – an issue best to keep an eye on in the coming months.


George Xinos
Functional Access Solutions

The 2009 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) found that approximately 110,000 Australians have dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease. Dementia is of course closely related to aging with less than 1% of people surveyed having dementia or Alzheimer’s in the age bracket of 65-69 year olds, and increasing progressively to 28% of centenarians.

It is also well established that our society is an aging one. Projections suggest that by 2056 the proportion of people aged 65years and over will represent approximately 24% of the population. The corresponding figure in 2007 was 13%. In the absence of significant medical breakthroughs, the correlation between aging and dementia would suggest a strong prevalence of the condition in the years to come.

Further to this, of those identified as having the condition, 62% were living in a health establishment such as a nursing home, an aged care hostel, or the cared component of a retirement village. This is significant as older adults with dementia encounter significant challenges in negotiating unfamiliar environments. The design of facilities for older residents is therefore crucial in supporting the ongoing function and independence of people with dementia.

The Dementia Centre founded by Hammond Care provide a number of resources inclusive of publications, guidelines, audit tools and design courses to assist in the creation of suitable environments for people living with dementia (www.dementiacare.com.au). Many of their resources and other previous research indicates that incorporating familiarity into environmental design can help augment deficits noted in dementia, this being reasoned to long-term memories remaining more intact than short term memories.

Of course with aging other co-morbidities also arise. These may include arthritis, limited mobility and fatigue due to stroke or heart condition, affected hearing and vision, amongst others. Balancing design to address ‘ease of use’ while maintaining familiarity is therefore important in achieving appropriate outcomes.

Some important considerations are summarized below:

• Increase lighting levels to assist with deteriorating vision. Maximizing natural light is especially useful as it not only assists with vision but supports people’s orientation to time. Take care not to produce sources of glare in increasing the lighting available. Locate switches consistently and provide contrasting colours to surrounding walls to assist users in finding them.
• Noise can have a detrimental effect on a person with dementia’s concentration and cognitive processing. Reducing and eliminating background noise is therefore an important consideration. Soft furnishing and finishes can assist in dampening noise. Due consideration of the age group should be applied in selecting these in order to make them as familiar as possible. The location of services within a building can impact on persistent low level noise, and of course acoustic separation via design as well as via materials used in partitioning, doors, etc. should be closely deliberated.
• Select materials and fixtures which are familiar to the age group. An example may be a capstan tap in lieu of a mixer tap lever even though levers are generally physically easier to use. Unfamiliar items and new methods to perform everyday tasks can be confusing and stressful for a person with dementia.
• Provide flooring finishes which are continuous and do not have bold patterns on them. Changes in floor finishes and patterns can be perceived as a change in level or an item forgotten in their path, sometimes becoming the precursor to a fall.
• Providing contrasting wall and floor finishes to assist in defining the shape and size of the room. This can also assist with orientation and navigation.
• Select furnishings, fixtures and fittings so that there finishes contrast against the background they will be viewed against. This is especially important in bathrooms where fittings are often white viewed against white wall tiles.
• Investigate appropriate assistive technologies which could be incorporated such as tracking devices, chair / bed occupancy sensors, enuresis alarms, motion detectors for lighting during night time toileting, etc.
• Consider suitable safety devices and strategies such as additional smoke, heat and gas alarms, tempering valves for taps, providing locked cabinets for storage of hazardous substances, monitoring devices, cooking appliances which switch themselves off, etc.
• Consider open shelving as opposed to cupboards, or cupboards with Perspex or safety glass fronts to assist with locating items.

 

George Xinos
Functional Access Solutions

This year’s release of the Building Code of Australia (BCA) 2014 and its application in May, as with every year, brings a number of changes. An ongoing ambiguity for many years was the requirements for stairway treads, landings and ramps to have slip-resistant, non-skid or non-slip properties. A very sensible inclusion given that in Australia a staggering 144,000 hospital day beds annually are attributed to admissions due to falls.

The problem arising with these inclusions however, was that the terms were not clearly defined, that an objective level of slip resistance for each application was not provided, and that a method for measuring slip resistance was not outlined or identified.

To address this issue, the relevant Australian Standard regarding the measurement and classification of slip resistance, AS 4586: 2013 Slip resistance classification of new pedestrian surface materials, was revised accordingly and is now referenced to the BCA 2014. This standard sets out suitable testing methods as well as the resulting classifications for each of the test methods.

Test methods included in the standard allow for both wet and dry conditions and the limitations of some of the test methods are also raised. The BCA however only references classifications achieved via a Wet Pendulum Test or Oil-Wet Inclining Platform Test; these are generally classification values preceded by P or R.

The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) had raised their intention to reference the revised standard in early 2013, soon after the release of the standard. The intent being to allow manufacturers of flooring materials to undertake the necessary testing in time for the incoming changes to the BCA. Given this, many manufacturers and suppliers should be now well placed to provide the information necessary to architects and designers when specifying flooring.

It should be noted however that the inclusions to the BCA are targeted at only two building elements identified as presenting a higher risk of slips and falls. These are stairs and ramps with some differentiation also identified based on the gradient of a ramp. Step ramps, that is, pedestrian ramps with a gradient of 1:10 will require a higher level of slip resistance to longer 1:14 ramps. Designers and specifiers are also allowed flexibility with designing floor finishes on stair treads by either providing a suitably slip resistant surface to the entire tread or to just the nosing of each tread as well as the landing edge.

Also significant is that these requirements have been included in both Volumes of the BCA, effectively making them a requirement across all building classifications. Volume 2 however does not include reference to ramps given that access to people with a disability is not a BCA requirement to private individual residential dwellings.

Following on from this however, all other building classifications must be accessible to people with disabilities under the BCA with the referenced Australian Standard outlining requirements for access being AS 1428.1: 2009 Design for access and mobility – General requirements for access – New building work. AS 1428.1 subsequently states that continuous accessible paths of travel and circulation spaces defined in the standard must have a slip resistant surface; as with the BCA previously, no further information is however provided with regard to testing and classification. To better address this omission, designers are best advised to consider HB 197: 1999 - An introductory guide to the slip resistance of pedestrian surface materials in their selection of floor finishes to the remainder of the buildings they design. This guide is also raised as a suitable guideline within the revised AS 4586: 2013.

Factors arising at occupation and use must also not be forgotten in the consideration of floor finishes. Frequency and type of usage, cleaning systems, coatings and patterns of wear can all have a significant impact on the characteristics of the floor affecting slip resistance. The limitations of the new requirements and their application to only new materials should also be acknowledged. Installed flooring materials should be tested in accordance with AS 4663: 2013 Slip resistance measurement of existing pedestrian surfaces.

George Xinos
Functional Access Solutions

 

Intelligent use of lighting in buildings is an essential ingredient in providing a safe and functional environment. Inadequate and inappropriate lighting can be detrimental to many people, increasing their risk of tripping, falling or sustaining injuries; either during general mobility, or during tasks involving the use of utensils.

Most people who are considered legally blind have some residual vision and can perceive some level of light. Low vision can be the result of a myriad of conditions, many of these associated with aging. The strong correlation of low vision and aging, coupled with the trend of an exponential growth in the 60 plus age group, highlights the importance of providing environments with well designed lighting.


General lighting
An inadequate or inconsistent level of general or ambient lighting to a space can present a formidable problem to many people with low vision. People with low or affected vision often require two to three times the amount of light to perform tasks and to facilitate general orientation and mobility.

Providing general lighting to an appropriate level is therefore essential. Lux levels for rooms of a variety of functions are outlined in Australian Standards AS1680 Interior lighting, and more specifically for people with low vision in AS1428.2 Design for access and mobility Part 2: Enhanced and additional requirements – Buildings and facilities.

The lighting levels indicated in these can sometimes become problematic for designers when attempting to also meet sustainability requirements for buildings given the amount of energy used. Even though these standards provide important guidance in designing lighting, a number of considerations can be incorporated to assist in improving the function and safety of an internal space.


Location of lighting
Wall washers which use the walls and ceilings as reflectors, assist in illuminating without glare as well as defining a space more effectively. It can assist with identifying rooms and therefore facilitate orientation.

Daylight is generally a source of light that most people (including people with low vision) find very useful. Maximizing this through the use of windows and openings, while also considering their location and potential for providing a glare source is essential. Providing a means of excluding low-elevation sunlight such as an eave, screen or blind will assist in reducing glare.

Consideration of anticipated occupant sightlines within a space is essential in the provision of both natural and artificial light sources in order to reduce direct glare and any associated silhouetting.

Locating light switches to the latch side of a door and aligning them with the height of door hardware also provides consistency for users in locating them upon entering a potentially dark space.


Use of task focused lighting
Providing focused illumination for particular activities in set locations improves visual clarity and can offset fatigue. Task lighting enhances contrast and improves clarity and should be provided in areas where people are expected to perform specific tasks such as reading, writing, craftwork, preparing food etc. Task lighting should always be provided in conjunction with general lighting.


Selection of appropriate lighting and fittings
Quality fluorescent light sources provide a more diffuse source of light which reduces the possibility of dark areas and provides a more consistent lighting level. Triphosporus halogens should be selected as they provide more natural lighting. Where incandescent or halogen lighting is preferred, it should be noted that these produce a narrower band of light. A larger number of lighting fittings will therefore be required to provide uniform lighting across a space and to reduce the production of shadows which can also be disorienting for people with low vision.

Diffusers should generally be used to reduce glare, and light fittings should not be mounted at or around eye level. Up-lighting projecting into habitable spaces (especially along established paths of travel) should also be avoided.


Use of finishes
Providing contrasting finishes between items such as walls and floors, as well as furniture and fitment items, assists in defining a space and a safe path through the building. Attention should also be given to the reflectivity of finishes. Matte finishes are preferred to reduce potential glare from reflected light sources.

Ensuring a logical design and layout is provided within a room based on the activities performed in the space will assist people with low vision to anticipate and search out appropriate routes for navigation.

George Xinos
Functional Access Solutions