RECOMMENDATIONS

VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSON
ENVIRONMENTAL ACCESSIBILITY STANDARTS
FOR DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION IN LATVIA

Indoor environment

• Light
1. Daylight (Fluorescent) lamps are recommended.
2. The location of directions, telephone apparatus, staircases and entrances should be properly illuminated.
3. Avoid the formation of shadows and silhouettes by installing artificial lighting.
4. Ensure a minimum level of lighting in staircases, corridors and other areas where lighting is often inadequate.
5. Provide contrasting light supply switches and sockets.
6. There must be no direct, dazzling light sources.

• Walls
1. Contrasting color landmarks (handrails) on walls along their entire length.
2. Mark all glass walls, surfaces and other hazardous areas.
3. To facilitate orientation in the room, walls, floors and doors should contrast with each other.

• Floors
1. Smooth but matte and non-slip flooring.
2. It is preferable to apply a different material to the floor covering near the walls.
3. Avoid unsecured carpets or other coverings.

• Rooms
1. Highlight level changes with contrasting markings or different flooring, avoid sharp rises, falls and thresholds.
2. Important items - fire extinguishers, telephones, etc. should be placed in recesses in walls.
3. In common spaces, avoid hanging shelves, etc., as they cannot be struck with a walking stick and pose a threat to the safety of the movement of a blind person.
4. Sharp edges and corners must be rounded off.
5. Seating positions shall be permanently locked in place to not obstruct the main travel route.
6. Avoid placing low (below knee level) items in common spaces.
7. In corridors, equipment must be located outside the main travel routes.
8. Make inscriptions in all rooms as tactile markings, enlarged in print, letters at least 5 cm high and letters contrasting with the background, also Braille.

• Maps and other markings
1. There should be tactile markings or audio signals for emergency exit, WC, and other essential room doors.
2. Signs, inscriptions shall be of a proportionate size (the height of the letters in the indications and drawings shall be at least 5 cm), Braille must be placed in an accessible position- at hand reach level.
3. Other signs must be clearly visible using the appropriate font shape, style and contrast background.
4. Ensure sign lighting.
5. The easiest route must be clearly and unambiguously indicated.

• Colors and contrast
1. Choose contrasting colours such as blue and yellow, red and white, etc.
2. Doors, furniture and floors must contrast with walls, dangerous areas, but an emergency exit with the rest of the environment.
3. Apply clear, contrasting colours and matte or embossed materials to the finish.

• Accommodation arrangements
1. The lives of visually impaired people are facilitated by “talking” household appliances.
2. An electric stove is recommended in the kitchen.
3. Install an automatic fire alarm in the premises.

• WCs and showers
1. Accessories shall be placed with a fixed location.
2. The edges of the dressing table and hand wash sink shall be rounded.
3. Cold and hot water taps are recommended to be different in colour and shape.
4. The toilet lid should be in contrast with the toilet itself.
5. WC accessories must contrast with the rest of the room colour.

• Elevators
1. The digital buttons on the elevator must be marked in Braille, with embossed symbols, and in enlarged print, at a height of 90 to 120 cm above the floor.
2. You need to provide audio information about the reached floor.
3. Lift doors shall be equipped with time delay mechanisms.
4. Eye-catching information signs about the elevator location should be visible and easily readable. The brightness of the lights in the lift must match the brightness in the designated floor.
5. There must be a built-in warning zone in front of the elevator - a different material or a tactile strip.

• Windows
1. Window handles must be clearly distinguishable, easy to use and easy to reach.
2. The windows should be fitted with blinds, etc., to prevent the passing of light that is too bright into the room.

• Doors
1. Doors, handles and door claddings must contrast with walls.
2. If possible, make sure that doors that open outwards do not protrude the way.
3. Provide an audible signal at the entrance door.
4. Thresholds are not desirable, if necessary- contrasting colour should be applied.
5. The bell buttons must be contrasting, positioned 85 to 90 cm from floor level.
6. The contrasting colouring of the glass doors and walls needs to be durable, the contrasting colouring shall be 160 cm, 140 cm and 35 cm (upper edges). The contrasting marking shall be in a band 10 cm wide.
7. Automatic doors must contrast with the environment.
8. Doors must remain open for as long as the user is in their area of operation.
9. The entrance shall be well lit and the lighting in the entrance area and the room shall be of the same brightness.
10. The use of revolving doors is not recommended.

• Steps and steps
1. The first and last steps shall be marked in yellow or other contrasting colour. The horizontal surface of the step shall be marked 10 cm wide and 5 cm vertical.
2. The staircase shall be illuminated.
3. Handrail tape should contain a tactile (noticeable) sign or Braila lettering indicating the building floor.
4. The railings shall be on both sides of the staircase, in contrasting colour and shall extend at least 30 cm across the first and last steps.
5. The handrail must accurately track the contours of the staircase, ensuring direction orientation and safety.
6. At the top and bottom of the escalator, an embossed band shall be created in the floor.
7. It is recommended that the first and last steps of escalators be illuminated in different colours at the top and bottom (e.g., top green, bottom yellow).

External Environment

• Dogs - guides
1. Dogs - guides with their owners should be allowed into all places of public events, public transport and buildings.

• Outside enviroment
1. The guide (landmark) must be clearly distinguishable.
2. Large open areas without guidelines should be avoided.
3. Travel routes shall be free of any obstacles.
4. Fountains or other running waters, changes to curb terrain, pavement and grass or pavement and asphalt combinations can be used as a guide to give directional guidance landmarks.
5. Level changes shall be warned by contrasting and tactile (palpable) warnings.
6. The guide supports shall be coloured yellow, contrasting.

• Street amenities
1. Street equipment should be deployed carefully and consecutively, according to one standard and style, to ensure direction orientation.
2. Street equipment such as lampposts, benches, bus stops, sheds, traffic light supports, etc. - can be successfully used as directional guidelines for visually impaired people.
3. Street equipment (lighting and road sign posts, etc.) must not be placed on pavements
4. On narrow streets, equipment should be kept to a minimum.
5. Equipment (electrical cabinets; flower pots) and decorative elements should be located on the ground to make it easier for cane users to identify an obstacle.
6. All poles - traffic lights, road signs, advertising, lighting - must be marked with yellow, contrasting colour at 160 cm, 140 cm and 35 cm. The marking shall be in a band 10 cm wide.
7. Place street names and number plates on buildings need to be easily comprehensible and contrasted for the visually impaired people.

• Sidewalks
1. The pavement surface should be solid, seamless, with good quality pavement.
2. The minimum width of a pavement shall be 150 cm to enable the guide or the guide dog to guide the visually impaired person.
3. The curb edges shall be clearly defined if necessary protective rails need to be fitted.
4. It is recommended that the curb is contrasting and/or embossed to warn of deviation to the driveway.
5. The crossing point of the driveway shall be at the same level as the roadway.
6. Hatches and grilles shall not be placed at intersections of dense traffic.
6. There must be a good contrast of colouring between the road and the pavement, such as a black road and a grey white pavement.
7. Place at least 60 cm wide different pavement (terrain) and contrasting paint before changing the level in another room (lift, staircase).
8. Smooth pavement and carriageway lighting shall be ensured in populated areas.

• Crossings
1. Junctions should preferably be at right angles to the street.
2. Traffic lights installed at street crossings shall have sound functions and tactile indications.
3. At intersections with audible traffic lights during crossing, the signal shall be audible in the direction to which it is to go. The red light must be preceded by a different warning signal. A signal about its location is sent from the traffic light.
4. Pedestrian crossings from all sides shall have an embossed surface (noticeable), clearly visible in a contrasting tone.
5. Pedestrian crossings shall be illuminated.
6. A warning with a different terrain cover should be incorporated at the curbs edge at rapid level shifts, which informs people with visual disabilities about the proximity of the driveway.
7. Should be marked with tactile rectangles, different terrain from the start till the end of the pedestrian crossing.

• Public telephones
1. Around the public telephone there should be a different tactile ground covering about 60cm wide.
2. The payphone dial must be contrasting and with tactile markings.

• Public parks
1. Walking paths shall have anti-slip surfaces and be maintained in good technical condition.
2. Trails shall not be carried directly to dangerous areas - a river, pond or steep slopes, unless they are protected by a barrier at a height of at least 90 cm.
3. The information and indications regarding the sights and their locations shall be placed in reach areas (letter size contrasting, at least 5 cm).
4. Mock-ups, maps and markings to create tactile (eye-catching), descriptions in a well-legible eyesight pattern, and Braila in “light Language.”
5. Steps shall be marked yellow or other contrasting colour, and warning relief plates shall be placed before level changes and steps (60 cm wide).

• Car parks
1. Each car park shall provide spaces for the transport of disabled persons.
2. The parking lot of disabled vehicles shall be marked with a special sign.

• Road repairs and construction work
1. Areas for road repairs, building rubble containers and other construction objects shall be completely enclosed by rigid, brightly coloured, illuminated barriers.

• Availability of services and information
1. Create and adapt an accessible environment for the visually impaired in bathing areas near the sea and lakes and other open public spaces.
2. In banks, social service agencies and other institutions where queues are regulated by numbers, digits should be displayed not only on the display, but also played in audio format.
3. ATMs are adapted for independent use for the visually impaired (provision of a “talking” programme).
4. State and local government institutions should ensure access to the use of websites for blind people through the "JAWS" and "TILDES VISVARE", and photographs posted on websites should provide a verbal description for blind people.
5. Homepages should be created by WCA2.30 standards.

 public transport
1. Low floors should be provided for people with mobility and visual impairments, elderly passengers, parents with strollers and young children.
2. Inside the transport, the stops are both named in audio format and displayed on the display.
3. Route numbering at stops should be audible outside the vehicle.
4. Large routing numbers must be placed in side windows.
5. The handles and handrails shall be marked in yellow, contrasting colour.
6. Ensure a change in the shade level of yellow where it is necessary.
7. Stops at the station and in the city must be designed to be level with the floor of the vehicle.
8. The city must provide points of single design, with contrasting markings on the boundaries of the stop, and with different tactile terrain covering the point of entry.
9. Information on the route and departure times of transport in Braille shall be displayed at stops.
10. Public transport in the city is recommended in one contrasting colour and in district routes in another colour.
11. Information on the planning of the station/bus station and available services shall be provided in braille on the tactile stand leading up to a contrasting, relief strip.
12. At stops, information on the accessibility of all or individual vehicles to disabled persons should be provided in an increased format.