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Re: Evacuation Maps and Web Accessibility

for

From: Andrew Kirkpatrick
Date: Jan 12, 2005 11:35AM

> 2. From the elevator, take four paces forward then turn right to
> proceed down the hallway 15 paces. From the stairwell, proceed from
> the doorway strait ahead down the hall 19 paces

Relative units are great for font sizes, but not directions! These
directions seem like a good start toward really describing to people
where to go, but what is they are shorter than the person who made the
directions? For 4 paces there won't be much difference, but 19 paces
could be very different distances for different people, including short
and tall people, people in a wheelchair, and people crawling on their
hands and knees to avoid smoke.

It might also be good to add additional routes in case one is blocked
or provide tips for evacuation like whether the fire alarms adjacent to
exits make a different sound (if that is in fact true).

AWK
--
Andrew Kirkpatrick
WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
125 Western Ave.
Boston, MA 02134
E-mail: <EMAIL REMOVED>
617.300.4420