Obviously we, as a society, have to take reasonable steps to make our environment and society accessible to those with a disabiltiy. So we have ramps and kneeling busses for people who cannot cope with steps; subtitles and induction loop systems for the deaf; bleeping pedestrian crossings and bobbly ramps for the blind.
I'm sure that many of these things make disabled people's lives better. But sometimes, I get the feeling someone is just going through the motions.
One such example is the toilets on some of the recently refurbished Scotrail diesel railcar units. The toilet in one of the carriages is designed to be particularly friendly to the disabled. It is large enough to accommodate a wheelchair, with a wide powered sliding door, operated by pushing buttons. And for the benefit of the blind, everything inside is labelled in Braille. Including this...
Yes, that's right. Someone has labelled the door status lights in Braille.
I admit it was the superficial absurdity that first caught my attention: if someone is reading the signs in braille hardly needs labelled indicator lights. Or are they supposed to use the heat from the bulb to work out which one is on?
OK, so it's not actually completely pointless: there are no doubt some people who can see well enought to know that there is a light on, but not well enough to read its label.
But Braille labels on indicator lights still feels like some kind of "legislation gone mad" arrangement.
And that's not the limit of the design problem, because the lights, and associated door controls, are located on the wall opposite the door. So our hypothetical blind traveller has to grope his way all the way round the (extra spacious) toilet area in order to find the controls to lock the door.
This, surely, isn't the best we can do for a disabled-friendly toilet.
Off the top of my head: instead of buttons and lights, have a chunky switch or lever that turns (or slides) between "Open" and "Closed" positions. And instead of putting it on the opposite side of the room, put it either on, or near, the door --- where one might expect things to do with the door to be located.
Just adding Braille to the labels on some indicator lights is just going through the motions.
