Prototyping a Descriptive Guide for the Education City Tram

Every person should be able to live in an environment that is supportive of their health and wellbeing, be welcomed, and have equitable access to public spaces, housing options, employment, and educational opportunities. One of the pillars of any society is transportation given how crucial it is to people's daily lives. Many Persons with Disabilities (PwD) do not have access to many basic facilities, including homes, hospitals, and workplaces, and many others. Transportation is usually sensitive to the needs of persons with physical disabilities; however, it does not often serve persons with visual impairment. This study aims to prototype an Audio Descriptive Guide (ADG) for the Education City tram. This was done by carrying out a contextual analysis of the conditions for commuting in Education City tram and the piloting of an ADG for blind commuters. The contextual analysis took on a mixed method approach. A survey, semi-structured interview, and two focus group sessions were carried out to gather information about the nature of the tram, the expectations of the commuters, and the needs of blind commuters.

The information gathered was important for the design of the ADG prototype. The prototype addressed two stops of the yellow line of the Education City tram following the principles of audio description. The product development entailed four main phases: understanding the context in Education City, designing an ADG, evaluating the script with end-users, and producing the ADG. These phases were highly influenced by dialogues held with the stakeholders in the contextual enquiry. The final product, the ADG for Education City, contains information about the main venues served by each stop, as well as wayfinding information, which blind users said to be of the greatest importance to them.

This work is to be seen as a pilot case study to be completed and implemented in the setting of the Education City Tram.