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Improved usability of pedestrian environments after dark for people with vision impairment : An intervention study

Mattsson, Pimkamol LU ; Johansson, Maria LU orcid ; Almén, Mai ; Laike, Thorbjörn LU ; Marcheschi, Elizabeth LU and Ståhl, Agneta LU (2020) In Sustainability (Switzerland) 12(3).
Abstract

Walking is an important transport mode for sustainable cities, but the usability of pedestrian environments for people with impaired vision is very limited after dark. This study compares the usability of a walkway, operationalized in terms of (i) the pedestrian's ability to orient themselves and detect infrastructure elements, and (ii) the perceived quality of lighting in the environment (evaluated in terms of the perceived strength quality and perceived comfort quality). The study was performed in a city in southern Sweden, along a pedestrian route where observations and structured interviews had previously been conducted and after an intervention involving installing new lighting systems with LED lights. A mixed method analysis... (More)

Walking is an important transport mode for sustainable cities, but the usability of pedestrian environments for people with impaired vision is very limited after dark. This study compares the usability of a walkway, operationalized in terms of (i) the pedestrian's ability to orient themselves and detect infrastructure elements, and (ii) the perceived quality of lighting in the environment (evaluated in terms of the perceived strength quality and perceived comfort quality). The study was performed in a city in southern Sweden, along a pedestrian route where observations and structured interviews had previously been conducted and after an intervention involving installing new lighting systems with LED lights. A mixed method analysis involving participants with impaired vision (N=14) showed that the intervention generally improved the walkway's usability: observations indicated that the participants' ability to orientate themselves and detect infrastructure elements increased, and the interviews showed that the intervention increased the perceived strength quality of the lighting along the walkway. However, the effects on the perceived comfort quality were unclear. It is therefore important to carefully evaluate new lighting systems to reduce the risk of creating an inappropriate lighting design that will limit walking after dark by people with impaired vision.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Outdoor lighting, Urban walking, Usability, Vision impairment, Walkway
in
Sustainability (Switzerland)
volume
12
issue
3
article number
1096
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85081263911
ISSN
2071-1050
DOI
10.3390/su12031096
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9cdea586-5db4-4cc2-8d35-ce977f94d24b
date added to LUP
2020-04-07 14:04:20
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:52:35
@article{9cdea586-5db4-4cc2-8d35-ce977f94d24b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Walking is an important transport mode for sustainable cities, but the usability of pedestrian environments for people with impaired vision is very limited after dark. This study compares the usability of a walkway, operationalized in terms of (i) the pedestrian's ability to orient themselves and detect infrastructure elements, and (ii) the perceived quality of lighting in the environment (evaluated in terms of the perceived strength quality and perceived comfort quality). The study was performed in a city in southern Sweden, along a pedestrian route where observations and structured interviews had previously been conducted and after an intervention involving installing new lighting systems with LED lights. A mixed method analysis involving participants with impaired vision (N=14) showed that the intervention generally improved the walkway's usability: observations indicated that the participants' ability to orientate themselves and detect infrastructure elements increased, and the interviews showed that the intervention increased the perceived strength quality of the lighting along the walkway. However, the effects on the perceived comfort quality were unclear. It is therefore important to carefully evaluate new lighting systems to reduce the risk of creating an inappropriate lighting design that will limit walking after dark by people with impaired vision.</p>}},
  author       = {{Mattsson, Pimkamol and Johansson, Maria and Almén, Mai and Laike, Thorbjörn and Marcheschi, Elizabeth and Ståhl, Agneta}},
  issn         = {{2071-1050}},
  keywords     = {{Outdoor lighting; Urban walking; Usability; Vision impairment; Walkway}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Sustainability (Switzerland)}},
  title        = {{Improved usability of pedestrian environments after dark for people with vision impairment : An intervention study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12031096}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/su12031096}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}