Pedestrian Crossing - Enhancements For Disabled People

Enhancements For Disabled People

Pedestrian controlled crossings are sometimes provided with enhanced features to assist the disabled (disabled people). Enhancements may include:

• Tactile cones near or under the control button. These rotate or shake when the pedestrian signal is green - the image of a "green man". This is for pedestrians with visual impairments.
• Tactile surfacing pattern (or tactile paving) laid flush within the adjacent footways (US: sidewalks), so that visually impaired pedestrians can locate the control box and cone device and know when they have reached the other side. In Britain, different colours of tactile paving indicate different types of crossings; yellow (referred to as buff coloured) is used at non-controlled (no signals) crossings, and red is used at controlled (signalised) locations.
• Audible signals, such as beeps, in order to help blind or partially sighted pedestrians; or a short recorded message, as in Scotland, Hong Kong, Singapore and some parts of Canada (moderate to large urban centres), the United States, including Michigan, Massachusetts and Texas. In Japan, various electronic melodies are played, often of traditional melancholic folk songs such as "Tōryanse" or "Sakura". In Croatia and Sweden, beeps (or clicks) with long intervals in-between signifying "don't walk" mode and beeps with very short intervals signifying "walk" mode.
• A vibrating button in addition to an audible signal is used in Australia, Germany, and some parts of the United States, Greece, Ireland, and Hong Kong to assist hearing-impaired people (see also 'cones' at the top of this list)
• Electrostatic, touch-sensitive buttons; these require no force to activate. To confirm that a request has been registered, the buttons usually emit a chirp or other sound. They also offer anti-vandalism benefits due to not including moving parts which are sometimes jammed on traditional push-button units.