Tactile paving is a system of textured ground surface indicators found on many footpaths

Sidewalk

A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...

, stairs

Stairs

-People:* Scott Kannberg , guitarist of Pavement* A. Edison Stairs , New Brunswick politician* Denis Stairs , engineer, Montreal businessman* Ernest W. Stairs , New Brunswick politician...

 and train station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 platforms to assist blind

Blindness

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...

 and vision impaired

Low vision

Low vision is a subspecialty within the professions of optometry and ophthalmology dealing with individuals who have reduced vision even when using the best possible spectacle or contact lens correction available. It can be a result of either congenital disease Low vision is a subspecialty within...

 pedestrians.

Tactile warnings provide a distinctive surface pattern of "truncated domes" or cones (which are small domes or cones that have had their tops cut off, or truncated) or "truncated bars" detectable by long cane

White cane

A white cane is used by many people who are blind or visually impaired, both as a mobility tool and as a courtesy to others. Not all modern white canes are designed to fulfill the same primary function, however: There are at least five varieties of this tool, each serving a slightly different...

 or underfoot which are used to alert people with vision impairments of their approach to streets and hazardous drop-offs. People who are blind

Blindness

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...

 or visually impaired are alerted of impending danger from vehicle impact or a grade change. There is a disagreement in the design community and the community of users if the interior use of these bars represents a tripping hazard.

Originally instituted at crosswalks and other hazardous vehicular ways by countries like Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, among others, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 picked up the standard in the early 1990s, after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 started incorporating the use in transportation first in the 1990s then added them to the built environment in early 2000s.

History

The original tactile paving was developed by Seiichi Miyake in 1965. The paving was first introduced in a street in Okayama city, Japan, in 1967. Its use gradually spread in Japan and then around the world.

Today yellow tactile pavings are almost ubiquitous throughout Japan. For aesthetic reasons, for example in front of hotels, the colour of the paving can change to reflect the colour of the pavement or stone floor. Sometimes the paving contours are with steel stripes and dots.

In Australia

The Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

The Australian Human Rights Commission is a national human rights institution, a statutory body funded by, but operating independently of, the Australian Government. It has the responsibility for investigating alleged infringements under Australia’s anti-discrimination legislation...

 (HREOC) released Guidelines on access to buildings and services in 2007, under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992

Disability Discrimination Act 1992

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 was an act passed by the Parliament of Australia in 1992 to promote the rights of people with disabilities in certain areas such as housing, education and provision of goods and services...

. This recommends the use of Australian Standard AS/NZS 1428.4:2002 Design for access and mobility - Tactile indicators. The standard specifies the use of truncated cones, rather than domes (as used in the USA). HREOC describe the use of the standard.

In Canada

In Canada detectable warning surfaces have in recent years started to be found in many provincial and municipal building standards (supplements to the building codes). These standards require detectable warning surfaces in prescribed locations, such as on the slopes of pedestrian curb cuts/curb ramps, exterior and interior ramps, at the top of stairs and on landings, and at the edge of rail platforms. Detectable warning surfaces include both truncated domes and tactile bars.

One of the first architectural standards for buildings requiring the use of detectable warning surfaces was the City of London Facility Accessibility Design Standards (FADS). The difference from the American ADA standards is the two different types of tactile surfaces required http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=/Accessibility/2007FADSHTMLversion.htm#448. At stairs, detectable warning surfaces are required (long bars that in USA are called "directional bars" but are placed at perpendicular to the main path of travel), whereas offset truncated dome detectable warning surfaces are used for ramps, elevated platforms (like those found at the edges of boarding platforms in transit facilities), and at other areas where pedestrian ways blend with vehicular ways.

In the United States

In the U.S. tactile warnings systems are required by the ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a law that was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1990. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. W. Bush, and later amended with changes effective January 1, 2009....

. The federal government, through studies and guidance provided by advocates and the Access Board now mandates detectable warnings in prescribed locations, such as on the surface of pedestrian curb cuts and at the edge of rail platforms. Detectable warnings have been required for the edge of rail platforms in the United States since 1991. Detectable warnings for pedestrian curb cuts were suspended for study in 1994, and became officially required in 2001.

The ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) require these warnings on the surface of curb ramps, which remove a tactile cue otherwise provided by curb faces, and at other areas where pedestrian ways blend with vehicular ways. They are also required along the edges of boarding platforms in transit facilities and the perimeter of reflecting pools. The raised pattern of domes also known as truncated domes are the preferred design for detectable warning tiles and pavers.

The usage of tactile paving in many circumstances will be required in the United States as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Adoption of truncated dome-mats has been controversial in some areas including Sacramento, CA.

Specifications for current enforceable ADA detectable warnings truncated domes regulation for the general public, is the United States Department of Justice 28 CFR part 36 Revised as of July 1, 1994.

Excerpt from ADA 4.3 Accessible Routes, 4.3.6 Surface Textures, 4.5 Ground Floor Surfaces, 4.5.3 - Carpet, 4.5.4 - Gratings - Textures. To date it appears none-of the detectable warnings manufactured, comply with 4.3.6 of the ADAAG. In addition, testing for being a non-hazardous surface placed in public walkways has not been conducted. In the appendix - some common sense reasons are illustrated about textures and their effects on the mobility impaired - A.4.5 Ground and Floor Surfaces. A4.5.1 General. People who have difficulty walking or maintaining balance or who use crutches, canes, or walkers, and those with restricted gaits are particularly sensitive to slipping and tripping hazards. For such people, a stable and regular surface is necessary for safe walking, particularly on stairs. Wheelchairs can be propelled most easily on surfaces that are hard, stable, and regular. Soft loose sand or gravel, wet clay, and irregular surfaces such as cobblestones can significantly impede wheelchair movement. 705 below has not been adopted by the DOJ for the general public and is therefore not enforced by the DOJ.

Specifications for ADA Detectable Warning Truncated Domes
United States Access Board – ADAAG Specifies:

705 Detectable Warnings

705.1 General. Detectable Warnings shall consist of a surface of truncated domes and shall comply with 705.

705.1.1 Dome Size. Truncated domes in a detectable warning surface shall have a base diameter of 0.9 inch (23 mm) minimum and 1.4 inch (36 mm) maximum, a top diameter of 50 percent of the base diameter minimum to 65 percent of the base diameter maximum, and a height of 0.2 inch (5.1 mm).

705.1.2 Dome Spacing. Truncated domes in a detectable warning surface shall have a center-to-center spacing of 1.6 inches (41 mm) minimum and 2.4 inches (61 mm) maximum, and a base-to-base spacing of 0.65 inch (17mm) minimum, measured between the most adjacent domes on a square grid.

705.1.3 Contrast. Detectable Warning Surfaces shall contrast visually with adjacent walking surfaces either light-on-dark, or dark-on-light.

Standards

• Australia / New Zealand AS/NZS 1428.4:2002 Design for access and mobility - Tactile indicators
• United Kingdom BS 7997:2003 Products for tactile paving surface indicators. Specification
• Japan JIS T 9251:2001 Dimensions and patterns of raised of parts of tactile ground surface indicators for blind persons

External links

• Federal Highway Administration: Detectable Warnings Memorandum
• United States Access Board: ADA Accessibility Guidelines, Detectable Warnings
• Canada City of London FADS
• External environments fact sheet
• http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/detwarn.htm
• Mobility Research Centre New Zealand: Providing Innovative Tactile Solutions