Disabled and handicapped
"Disability is not in people, but in the environment people designed. So everyone has a sense of being handicapped."
Here are two pictures of the stairs. What's the difference between these two pictures?
The most memorable class when I was in university was the disabled and the elderly experience. Generally, in the case of public institutions, the installation and inclination of the ramps is limited by the building law. There are also ramps installed in the university building that I had experienced. However, the position of the ramp was located at the beginning of the new ramp, and the edge of the ramp was turned off to connect them naturally. In the usual place, it becomes a dangerous place where the wheelchair slips. Fortunately, I was in a group of two, so I had a friend who helped me, so I did not have a big accident. The design made under the name of beauty is an obstacle to someone in their daily lives.
"Disability is not in people, but in the environment we live in." This is a sentence that clearly shows the purpose of barrier-free design and universal design. In the English speaking countries, they are changing the expression 'handicapped' to 'person with disability' because they are emphasizing on the possibility of human. On the other hand, in Korea, people are changing the expression of handicapped person to handicapped friend. This time, it means that the friend is the person to be helped, so we can understand the recognition of the disability in Korea. One of the first picture I showed is the stairs that was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of 3.1 movement in subway station. The other is just stairs in my apartment. If you take a closer look at the apartment stairs, you can see that there is a braille stool in the landing area and a black line on one side of the wall. Both are safety devices for people with visual impairments. You know all the uses of the braille scaffolding, but many people do not know the purpose of the black line. The black line has an important role to quasi-blind with amblyopia. They can guess the shape of the stairway through contrast effects. But, there is nothing in the stairs of subway station despite the fact that it is a public facility.
Typically, designs as standard are often considered universal design. It is important to make it look good, to make a meaningful form. But when changing standards, there must be hesitation and worry. In the design without hesitation, anyone can be handicapped.
