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DISABILITY-RESEARCH  May 2005

DISABILITY-RESEARCH May 2005

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Subject:

Blind navigate the city

From:

LILITH Finkler <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

LILITH Finkler <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Thu, 19 May 2005 13:36:16 -0300

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (193 lines)

The invisible touch
How the visually impaired navigate the city

by Tara Atluri
photo by Adam Krawesky

http://spacing.ca/ped-blind.htm
: : : : : : :

When most of us go for a walk, we walk with the privilege of sight. But for 
Randy Firth, head of Communication, Education and Public Issues with the 
Toronto District Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), walking 
this city’s public space is a source of daily frustration. Wet cement, 
inaccessible traffic signs, silent TTC rides, unrepaired sidewalks, 
bicycles, multiple cycle lights (advance greens), sharpened edges of transit 
maps, and a host of other barriers turn city streets into daily obstacle 
courses for the visually impaired. Firth states that one constant annoyance 
comes from privately owned businesses putting up sandwich boards in the 
middle of the road without thinking. These A-frames are quite literally a 
slap in the face for Toronto’s blind community.

The Toronto Advocacy Committee with the CNIB has been working to change this 
by lobbying the city to create more accessible public spaces for the blind. 
Craig Nichol, a member of the committee, states that bureaucracy often 
stands in the way of the city fulfilling its obligations under the Ontario 
Disabilities Act. “If you bring something to the City once ... they want you 
to come back and elaborate on the issues, but you have to wait a long time.”

Nichol says that along with the amount of time it takes for the city to deal 
with these issues, attitudes toward people with disabilities and the nature 
of their activism also play a part in the problem. “The disability community 
is not as vocal as other communities,” says Nichol. “We don’t have the same 
economic pull or visibility as other groups. Within the disability community 
a lot of people don’t have the inclination, time, or resources to get 
involved. Often, their health dictates what they can do.” Visually impaired 
people also face similar obstacles in mounting public protests. “In terms of 
protest, the idea of crowds poses a problem for the visually impaired,” says 
Nichol. “You end up hitting people with your cane.”

Trouble also arises when one segment of the disability community is used to 
represent the whole. Nichol points to how the city installed ramps due to 
demands made by one group of people with disabilities. However, these ramps 
make it hard for the visually impaired to negotiate sidewalks. “The city put 
this in place without thinking and to appease this one group.”

Boyd Hipfner currently sits as the visually impaired representative on the 
Toronto Pedestrian Committee. This committee makes recommendations within 
the city’s Works and Emergency Services Department which are then sent to 
City Council for approval. Hipfner says that “to the extent that the 
committee is made aware [of visually impaired issues] they are largely 
sympathetic.” This committee is also responsible for getting the audible 
crossing signals installed at some Toronto intersections.
Hipfner maintains there is not a lot of conflict with people with other 
disabilities. He points to the approved recommendation that requires a 12mm 
rise on sidewalk ramps that does not restrict wheelchairs yet is “cane 
detectable” as evidence of this cooperation. Contractors are currently 
supposed to adhere to these specifications, but Hipfner says “they don’t 
always follow the code.”

In order to prevent situations where one solution causes another problem, 
Nichol advocates for the creation of diverse committees and advocacy groups 
that are made up of people with different disabilities, “so that our efforts 
don’t cancel each other out.” The final item on his wish list is to see more 
able-bodied citizens taking an interest in issues that affect the visually 
impaired and other groups of citizens with disabilities and have the general 
profile of the pedestrian raised more in the mass media. “I remember when 
the weather was really bad here. I was listening to the radio and they were 
interviewing people about what they were wearing to keep warm. There are so 
many more issues that visually impaired people face in these conditions that 
get no air time.” Hipfner would like to see the City adopt the CNIB Advocacy 
Committee’s recommendation that all sidewalks on major streets have a 1.8 
metre-wide unimpeded path. This would benefit both the visually impaired and 
people using wheelchairs (and in fact everyone else). “If we have that, we 
don’t care what else they put on the sidewalk.” The key is not to make 
people zigzag around obstacles.

One of the luxuries of seeing lies in being seen. If you can see you are 
recognized and regarded as a citizen. The street signs have been designed 
for you. This magazine has been designed for you. But there are many 
visually impaired people whose stories remain invisible. The maps they must 
make in their minds to get from point A to point B do not make it into 
official accounts. To see them as owners of public space might mean seeing 
the city through new eyes.









spacing.ca || contact || subscribe || in this issue || stores

(c) 2005 Spacing Publishing
email: [log in to unmask]



by Tara Atluri
photo by Adam Krawesky


: : : : : : :

When most of us go for a walk, we walk with the privilege of sight. But for 
Randy Firth, head of Communication, Education and Public Issues with the 
Toronto District Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), walking 
this city’s public space is a source of daily frustration. Wet cement, 
inaccessible traffic signs, silent TTC rides, unrepaired sidewalks, 
bicycles, multiple cycle lights (advance greens), sharpened edges of transit 
maps, and a host of other barriers turn city streets into daily obstacle 
courses for the visually impaired. Firth states that one constant annoyance 
comes from privately owned businesses putting up sandwich boards in the 
middle of the road without thinking. These A-frames are quite literally a 
slap in the face for Toronto’s blind community.

The Toronto Advocacy Committee with the CNIB has been working to change this 
by lobbying the city to create more accessible public spaces for the blind. 
Craig Nichol, a member of the committee, states that bureaucracy often 
stands in the way of the city fulfilling its obligations under the Ontario 
Disabilities Act. “If you bring something to the City once ... they want you 
to come back and elaborate on the issues, but you have to wait a long time.”

Nichol says that along with the amount of time it takes for the city to deal 
with these issues, attitudes toward people with disabilities and the nature 
of their activism also play a part in the problem. “The disability community 
is not as vocal as other communities,” says Nichol. “We don’t have the same 
economic pull or visibility as other groups. Within the disability community 
a lot of people don’t have the inclination, time, or resources to get 
involved. Often, their health dictates what they can do.” Visually impaired 
people also face similar obstacles in mounting public protests. “In terms of 
protest, the idea of crowds poses a problem for the visually impaired,” says 
Nichol. “You end up hitting people with your cane.”

Trouble also arises when one segment of the disability community is used to 
represent the whole. Nichol points to how the city installed ramps due to 
demands made by one group of people with disabilities. However, these ramps 
make it hard for the visually impaired to negotiate sidewalks. “The city put 
this in place without thinking and to appease this one group.”

Boyd Hipfner currently sits as the visually impaired representative on the 
Toronto Pedestrian Committee. This committee makes recommendations within 
the city’s Works and Emergency Services Department which are then sent to 
City Council for approval. Hipfner says that “to the extent that the 
committee is made aware [of visually impaired issues] they are largely 
sympathetic.” This committee is also responsible for getting the audible 
crossing signals installed at some Toronto intersections.

Hipfner maintains there is not a lot of conflict with people with other 
disabilities. He points to the approved recommendation that requires a 12mm 
rise on sidewalk ramps that does not restrict wheelchairs yet is “cane 
detectable” as evidence of this cooperation. Contractors are currently 
supposed to adhere to these specifications, but Hipfner says “they don’t 
always follow the code.”

In order to prevent situations where one solution causes another problem, 
Nichol advocates for the creation of diverse committees and advocacy groups 
that are made up of people with different disabilities, “so that our efforts 
don’t cancel each other out.” The final item on his wish list is to see more 
able-bodied citizens taking an interest in issues that affect the visually 
impaired and other groups of citizens with disabilities and have the general 
profile of the pedestrian raised more in the mass media. “I remember when 
the weather was really bad here. I was listening to the radio and they were 
interviewing people about what they were wearing to keep warm. There are so 
many more issues that visually impaired people face in these conditions that 
get no air time.” Hipfner would like to see the City adopt the CNIB Advocacy 
Committee’s recommendation that all sidewalks on major streets have a 1.8 
metre-wide unimpeded path. This would benefit both the visually impaired and 
people using wheelchairs (and in fact everyone else). “If we have that, we 
don’t care what else they put on the sidewalk.” The key is not to make 
people zigzag around obstacles.

One of the luxuries of seeing lies in being seen. If you can see you are 
recognized and regarded as a citizen. The street signs have been designed 
for you. This magazine has been designed for you. But there are many 
visually impaired people whose stories remain invisible. The maps they must 
make in their minds to get from point A to point B do not make it into 
official accounts. To see them as owners of public space might mean seeing 
the city through new eyes.

(c) 2005 Spacing Publishing
email: [log in to unmask]

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