the issue that John Dale completely misses in his
article is that a guide dog users will have trained
both themselves and their dog for many months to
way-find in towns and villages and may find all
this acquired knowledge rendered useless almost
overnight by the removal of strategic landmarks.
For someone who has become blind in later life this
must be like being blinded once again and without
the landmarks his or her guide dog is not only
useless but in fact dangerous because it will lead
its owner into danger because the lack of kerbs
tells it it is safe to keep going. The dog will not
know that it is entering a 'shared space', just
that it has not met a kerb so it must still be on
'safe' pavement.
As most of you will know, it is not just Guide Dogs
that wish these developments to wait until someone
has thought them through; DiPTAC warn that local
authorities going ahead with shared space schemes
without fully involving disabled people may be
failing to fulfill their duties under the 2005
DDA - in short - breaking the law
Vin
Vin West
Secretary, Arfon Access Group
Glyn Dwr
Llandwrog Uchaf
Caernarfon
LL54 7RA
Tel: 01286 880761
Mob: 0777 153 6760
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 3:48 PM
Subject: Re: FW: HIGH STREET DESIGNS
An interesting article on Pg 25
http://www.landor.co.uk/lttxtra/lttpdf/505.pdf
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Run by SURFACE for more information on research,
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Run by SURFACE for more information on research, consultancy and the distance taught MSc. in Accessibility and Inclusive Design programme visit:
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