Autonomía de personas con discapacidad visual a través del diseño interior en espacios comerciales

Abstract

The present investigation has as purpose the study of the interior spaces of shopping centers for people with visual disabilities for the improvement of inclusion of the individuals, in spite of existing national and international regulations, the built environment still lacks functionality and accessibility. Architecture is often not suitable for people with disabilities. According to data from the WHO year 2017, it shows that around 285 million people have a visual disability, this disability affects 0.7% worldwide, but this is more evident in developed countries. Lately, it has been proven that architecture focuses on the accessibility of all people, especially people with disabilities, since more establishments practice universal design, allowing the individual to freely develop their tasks. In the province of Tungurahua there are 20% people with visual disabilities, unfortunately the province has suffered a delay in indoor and outdoor spaces in the inclusion of the blind. The objective of this research is to study the parameters of interior design for the autonomy of people with visual disabilities in commercial spaces with the purpose of proposing an interior design that potentializes orientation and mobility in commercial spaces and autonomy of blind people. The importance of developing research lies in the fact that the blind user has free and comfortable access to commercial spaces, since this person is also classified as a consumer. The originality of this study is based on providing the opportunity to diversify the interior design of commercial spaces, adding a new level of sensorial functionality to the environments and allowing the inclusion of the blind user to an establishment that usually means a risk and frighten In addition, the research is based on a qualitative approach, since it analyzes the interior environments of the shopping centers of the city of Ambato, with the aim of proposing alternatives for accessibility and autonomy for people with visual disabilities in commercial spaces. The results were that the senses used for the development of activities are the touch, hearing, smell and taste of the blind, the use of these senses are ordered according to the sensory perception that is used the most and the one that is least used. Likewise, the professionals mentioned that spaces are not accessible to people with disabilities, there are very few places that address the issue of inclusion and accessibility; for the most part, they indicate that the support of government entities is lacking and regulations are simply limited to a document without commitment and responsibility. Finally, it was concluded that the redesign acts on their emotional security as part of an inclusive strategy where the user feels an important part of the design. In addition, during the analysis of inclusion strategies, the need to incorporate a haptic plane board into the design of the environment was recognized, which allows the recognition at scale of the space using relief planes, textures and Braille language. Igualmente, los profesionales mencionaron que los espacios no son accesibles para las personas con discapacidad, son muy pocos aquellos lugares que se direccionan hacia el tema de inclusión y accesibilidad; en su mayoría, indican que el apoyo de las entidades gubernamentales es carente y las normativas simplemente se limitan a un documento sin compromiso y responsabilidad. Finalmente se concluyó que el rediseño actúa en su seguridad emocional como parte de una estrategia inclusiva donde el usuario se siente parte importante del diseño. Además, durante el análisis de las estrategias de inclusión se evidencio la necesidad de incorporar al diseño del ambiente un tablero con plano háptico, que permite el reconocimiento a escala del espacio utilizando planos en relieve, texturas y lenguaje braille.