Mobility experience of persons with visual impairments in indian railway station environments

Abstract

Mobility for persons with visual impairments in Indian railway stations poses multidimensional challenges for access to an inclusive travel experience. India is a home to about twenty million persons with diverse disabilities out of which about five million are persons with visual impairments. Diversity of passenger movements on a railway station including persons with visual impairments requires a Universal Design approach to respond to the accessibility issues in these contexts. This research study is based on a series of live on-site experiences conducted along with persons with visual impairments at New Delhi Railway Station. It also includes the generic studies carried out with other diversities of railway passengers including aging, gender and diverse physical abilities. It employs research methods like ethnography, focus group interactions and trace study to develop a deeper understanding of human and spatial parameters of mobility in railway station environments. A Universal Design perspective with a holistic understanding remains critical to the foundation of this research study. While it deals in specific requirements of persons with visual impairments, it also brings an illustration of handling diversity on a railway station from a unique Indian perspective. It concludes by highlighting and reinterpreting the Universal Design India Principles integrating the needs of persons with visual impairments in railway station environments. Brief recommendation for an inclusive mobility experience on railway station forms a vital part of this grounded research study. © 2016 The authors and IOS Press.