• Both remote infrared audible signage and push-button route directions enable blind users who are not severely hearing impaired to access emergency egress information in an efficient manner.
• Auditory information is preferred above tactile information, but it is not accessible for persons who are severely hearing impaired.
  
• Braille results in more efficient access to egress information than raised print and tactile maps and is the preferred tactile format.
  
• Only unique route information should be included on tactile or audible signs in rooms.
  
• General emergency instructions should be distributed to building users in an accessible format.
  
• Loudness of fire alarms interferes with efficient egress by persons who are visually impaired.
  
• Consistency in emergency egress information format, the way it works and where it is located is very important.
  
• Selection of accessible emergency egress information format should be based primarily on a consideration of its use in a non-emergency situation.
  
• Accessible emergency egress route information must be easy to find.
  
• Accessible emergency egress route information located at doors which exit into corridors should describe the routes to exits.
  
• Users should be able to get emergency egress route information along the route, not just at designated starting points.
  
• Verbal route directions should be as brief and unambiguous as possible.
  
• Additional formats (telephones, TVs, solid state recorders) may provide technical solutions. However, prior to consideration for deployment, each of these should be subjected to scrutiny to determine effectiveness (through research techniques such as those employed in the present study).
  

Recommendations for Further Research

This research has provided partial answers to a number of the questions raised at the beginning of the study, but it has not definitely identified a "best" accessible format or determined how formats would interact with new technologies in life safety systems such as "zone" announcements. The following list identifies key issues on which further research is needed.

1. Can people with visual impairments efficiently use emergency egress information in both tactile (e.g., Braille, raised print, and tactile maps) and audible formats (e.g., push-button system, remote infrared audible signs, portable recording units) in the presence of conventional, loud, alarms? If conventional alarms are shown to interfere with efficient use of emergency egress information, what new alarm strategies would improve this situation for blind people while, at the same time not degrade alarm effectiveness for sighted people?

2. Is an audible indicator (speaker) at the precise location of emergency exits effective for people who are blind in identifying the actual exit point? If so, do these systems remain effective in the presence of conventional, loud, alarms?

3. How efficiently could people with visual impairments use an emergency egress information system in which specific exit route information for each room was provided using a push-button, and general egress information, useful for locating the exit when starting from any point in the building, was provided by remote infrared audible signage?

4. Is there a population of persons who, having insufficient vision to read large print, would nonetheless be able to read (and who would read) raised print route instructions, but not Braille?

5. Can people with visual impairments efficiently use portable information such as portable playback units, Braille route instructions, or tactile maps for the tasks of determining where they are in a building, and determining the route to the nearest exit while also remaining oriented as they travel to that exit?

6. How easily can people with visual impairments locate accessible emergency egress information in standardized locations such as the first solid surface to the right of the entrance, at stairs and/or at elevators? In practice, how uniform are such “standardized locations” throughout complex, multi-floored buildings?

7. Can people with visual impairments efficiently use remote infrared audible signage to exit unfamiliar and irregularly shaped areas from which it would be difficult to provide or to locate push-button or Braille route directions?

8. Can people with visual impairments efficiently use remote infrared audible signage in conjunction with (or incorporating) a technology which provides real-time information about what action is to be taken in a given emergency?

9. What are the cost/benefits of systems which require the writing and implementation of unique audible or tactile route instructions for all locations in a facility vs a system in which standardized remote infrared audible signage messages are incorporated into print EXIT route signs?

10. Of the number of potentially helpful technologies available, what are the short-term and long-term cost/benefits of each including “hidden costs” such as actual effectiveness (providing proper messaging, information availability when and where needed), accountability (distribution of materials and testing of systems) and enforceability (periodic evaluation of system effectiveness and reliability).

11. What is the current behavior of people in actual emergencies (sighted and blind).

12. How might accessible signage be seen to affect the behavior of people in actual emergencies if it were in place?


Acknowledgments

The activities of this project were guided, in part, by consultants who have an interest and some level of expertise in matters regarding effective wayfinding strategies for persons who are blind. These consultants who helped review the design of the study as well as the study’s findings are: Reginald Golledge, Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara; Mr. Jake Pauls, CPE, Life Safety Specialist; Ms. Sharon Toji, H. Toji & Company; Ms. Judith M. Dixon, Library of Congress; Ms. Marsha Mazz, The Access Board; Richard Long, Ph.D., Western Michigan University. The suppliers of accessible formats were: Touch Graphics; Andco Signage; Talking Signs; H. Toji & Company.