Article Series
Author: Rehabilitation Alliance Hong Kong
Publication Year: 2024
The guiding path is a facility that assists visually impaired individuals in locating and navigating to different places, including location tiles, directional tiles, and warning tiles, serving functions such as turning, indicating pending locations, connecting, and warning about changes in the road environment ahead. Guiding paths can usually be found near the main entrances of buildings or on all floors of major facilities (such as inquiry counters, restrooms, etc.).
Although the design manual now includes requirements for laying guiding paths, the provisions are limited in length, and the descriptions and standards are not comprehensive. They do not delve into the principles or help engineers understand the functions of guiding paths, resulting in many incorrect installations in buildings.
First of all, if everyone pays attention, if the guiding path needs to turn and avoid obstacles, the guiding path should be laid out in two sections, with positioning bricks as turning points. However, strange layouts often occur; clearly, the entire guiding path is laid out to the right to avoid the large tree, but it always leads directly in front of the large tree, requiring a ninety-degree turn to avoid it. If more thought is given during the planning phase, a slight deviation in the guiding path can allow for straightforward walking without colliding with the large tree. This way of avoiding obstacles is more natural and more human-friendly.
The second point is about materials. Currently, there are three types of guiding bricks: stone bricks, plastic boards, and metal. Each of these materials has its own characteristics and advantages. However, because the manual lacks standards and is based on personal understanding and preference, different guiding bricks are used. For example, plastic guiding bricks used in areas with strong outdoor sunlight will quickly bend, deform, fade, and crack.
If anyone has any experiences or opinions regarding the content of the guidance paths, we welcome you to share them with us in the comments. If you notice any errors in the layout, please feel free to let us know.
