The blind face many challenges including negotiating the city’s streets.

PETALING JAYA:

Not only do they have to make their way through crowded and unfamiliar streets in partial or total blackness, the blind are faced with another challenge – having to weave in and out of parked motorcycles and other large objects indiscriminately flung onto tactile tiles meant to help them navigate their routes better.

‘Tactile pavings’ are a system of textured ground surface indicators along public roads meant to assist the blind when walking outside.

Moses Choo, a consultant for the National Council for the Blind Malaysia, said many members of the public are oblivious to the fact that these tiles must be kept clear at all times so the blind can walk with ease when out and about in public.

Motorbikes and cars are often indiscriminately parked on the tactile tiles meant to help the blind walk safely.

“Although we have a lot of tiles placed along the pavements to provide directions (for the blind), some people park their motorcycles on these tiles.

“We even have motorists who drive up to the pavement and park on top of the tactile indicators. This clearly shows people do not understand that these tiles are meant to help the blind with directions,” he told FMT.

The former executive director of the council said that the public must be made to understand the importance of such facilities.

“I’m sure many drivers will not like trees blocking signages so likewise, we do not want our ‘signage’ to be blocked as we would like to be able to know where we are going.”

Choo pointed out that the tiles have two distinctive markers that determine the direction for the blind.

The straight parallel lines indicate to walk forward while tiles with the small cones tell the blind to stop, slow down or make a turn.

One is a straight parallel line that directs the blind to walk forward, another with small cones telling them to stop, slow down or make a turn.

“Sometimes these tiles also mark the end of the pavement before one steps onto the road.”

Choo said connectivity is a major problem in Malaysia as different cities had different municipal authorities, resulting in fragmented routes for the blind. This poses a safety hazard.

“If I know that it’s safe, I will be more daring to explore (the streets) on my own but presently we have a long way to go when it comes to safety.”

He added that the colour of the tiles, which is bright yellow in some areas and grey in others, also made it difficult for the partially blind to distinguish between a tactile indicator and the road.

“It would be good if the colour is maintained as yellow because yellow against the road is great for high contrast (for the partially blind).”

Mobility aside, Choo also said that certain technologies could be improved to help the blind.

The public often dump trash or leave plastic chairs along the tactile tiles meant to help the blind walk safely.

This includes updating mobile apps with voice commands to make it easier for the blind to carry out simple tasks such as transferring money online.

He also suggested that train stations update their automated ticket machines or barriers so that they could help the blind check the balance on their Touch N Go cards.

“When we tap our cards, we actually do not know our balance. We often have to ask someone else, either at the counter or someone next to us.”

Despite this, Choo said he was hopeful that accessibility for the blind would improve.

“By working towards this and when we reach that level of accessibility, the next generation will be able to experience a better Malaysia and that’s what we aim for,” he said.

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