Building rating system: an instrument for building accessibility measurement for better indoor navigation by blind people

Abstract

People with sight loss have encountered barriers when travel independently inside buildings for a long time, especially buildings full of unfamiliar features [1]. Inside the buildings, many challenges are presented such as obstacles, noise and others, especially unpredictable objects like people to walk around, which directly affect their daily activities and navigation. For these reasons, many people with sight loss are afraid of visiting the buildings alone due to the unfamiliarity of spaces, which can cause them end up in the hospital. This has resulted from a lack of inclusive design in the built environment. If the buildings are designed to meet the needs of people with sight loss, they would feel more confident to visit. Thus, knowing about a level of accessibility provided inside the building before making a visit to a building is essential and helpful. Toward the inclusive built environment, many building regulations and legislations have been declared and used in most developed countries, highlighting barrier- free, accessible and adaptable buildings and dwellings for all people, regardless of disability, where the building designs standards are used, giving recommendations on how to create the built inclusive environments for all people. However, to check how a building performs in terms of access and ease of use, a site inspection is carried out throughout the building from checklists and recommendations to be followed. This is indeed a time-consuming inspection due to details and specifications given in the checklists and recommendations.

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