DETECTABLE WARNINGS: DETECTABILITY BY INDIVIDUALS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS, AND SAFETY AND NEGOTIABILITY ON SLOPES FOR PERSONS WITH PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENTS

Abstract

This report presents the results of research on human performance on detectable warning surfaces. The first portion of the report presents an evaluation of the underfoot detectability of nine detectable warning surfaces for persons having varied physical disablities. In the first study, thirteen detectable warning surfaces were evaluated for underfoot detectability by twenty-four persons who are blind, in association with four transit platform surfaces varying in roughness and resiliency. In the second study, forty participants having a wide range of physical disabilities, who traveled either with no aid, aids having wheels, or aids having tips, traveled up and down 4-foot-by-6-foot ramps having a slope of 1:12. All trials were videotaped; the videotapes were then rated, by three independent raters, for observable incidents indicating decreased safety and negotiability. Given the moderately increased level of difficulty which detectable warnings on slopes pose for persons with physical disabilities, it is desirable to limit the width of detectable warnings to no more than that required to provide effective warning for persons with visual impairments.

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