Due to the generosity of the National Council for the Blind, I was able to conduct a discussion with a group of people with various levels of visual impairment. I had pre-discussed my research topic with the NCBI, and specially designed housing was highlighted as something that could improve the built environment for it's service users.
Due to this discovery I used this focus group to discuss housing and how people navigate within their home. I learned a huge amount from these recollections of real life experience.
Things that could be highlighted were the use of sound and tactile touch points for orientation. The participants explained that when they became disorientated they would use reference points to re-orientate quickly. These were often the distance from a sound producing appliance or a specifically textured or shaped surface. Another highlight was a discussion about the perfect home, participants highlighted issues with glass doors, moving furniture, pillars, spillages and large open empty spaces.
These highlights are just examples of the wide range of lessons learned which further demonstrated the importance of involving real life experience into design, especially in accessible design.