5.2. Subject’s Opinion and Evaluation of Talking Signs (R)

 
The fifth open-ended question was of a more general nature and was not limited to specific tasks or travel behavior.   It was important to see what people felt about the overall impact of the additional auditory cues that they had just used in the field experiment.   At the end of the field test, subjects were asked “ What is your overall opinion of Talking Signs® ?”   (For all subjects’ comments, see APPENDIX 22 : Comments about Opinion of RIAS ).  

5.2.1. Sample of Comments

  • “V ery helpful for independent travel, non-intrusive device to provide visual info for blind & vision-impaired, safer, confident, independent, financial benefits, less accidents & fatalities.”
     
  • “Should be installed everywhere, they are cool, they make travel easier, more independent, don't have to rely on others, don't get lost.”
     
  • “S imple & eloquent solution to the problems of blind, independence, important to have more TS installed, should be in malls.”
     
  • “Increases independence dramatically, provides new info about unfamiliar locations, can find out about things you wouldn't normally find, saves time locating hard to find places, not asking for help.”
  • “Awesome, provides equality, provides safety, confidence, hell of a lot less stress.”
     
  • “Great if installed all over, greatly enhances vision-impaired to become productive.”
     

    5.2.2. User response categories

    The comments were parsed and broken down by type of response (to see each response, and its assigned category, see APPENDIX 23 : Categorization of Opinion of RIAS ).  These responses confirm and summarize what had been learned in the field tests and other questions.      
     
    Table 5. 1  Opinion of Talking Signs ®  

    “What is your overall opinion of Talking Signs(R)?”

    Category

    30 Subjects

    General Superlatives

    45

    Should be installed

    15

    Improves mental state

    14

    Spatial orientation aid

    12

    Increases independence

    9

    Specific places

    6

    Suggestions

    3
     
    Many of the responses were superlatives like “great,” “helpful,” “important,” or “wonderful.”  There were 45 such statements by the 30 subjects.  Half (15) of the subjects commented that RIAS should be installed.   Comments made included “hope they are installed universally,” “should be installed everywhere,” “should be installed where there are signs,” “should be involved per ADA,” and “endorse city-wide installation.” This was a strong endorsement of the benefit of this kind of spatial enhancement for the blind.  
     
    Fourteen comments directly mentioned that the system improved their mental state.  Some comments in this category were: “hell of a lot less stress,” “makes life a lot easier,” “make you socially able to live like a sighted person,” “provides equality,” and “confident.”   Other comments mentioned that they made travel safer, easier and more efficient.   Twelve comments dealt with the use of RIAS as a spatial awareness aid.   Some comments were: “can find out about things you wouldn't normally find,” “know where you are,” “needed wayfinding tool,” “provides new info about unfamiliar locations,” and “never would get lost.”  
     
    Nine comments were made that were categorized as “increases independence.”   They either used a form of the word “independent” or mentioned that they didn’t have to ask for help.  As discussed earlier, many blind people do not like to complain about the lack of independence and their forced reliance on others; but, after experiencing the freedom allowed with RIAS, many people mentioned this fact freely.   Six comments were made about the help received from RIAS at specific places.   They mentioned the street information, block numbers, the angle of intersections, bus stops and bathrooms.   One person commented that the system needed “fine tuning,” and two said that more input was needed from users.  

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