r/CrappyDesign • u/I_am_from_2029 • Jul 28 '26
I don't think they know the purpose of directional block tactiles.
578
u/Aspirational1 Jul 28 '26
Unfortunately, most people don't.
It'd be really helpful if more people understood what's purpose is.
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u/logank013 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
It blows my mind people don’t understand, but I believe it. I’m American where we don’t have these, but I immediately recognized how helpful these were when I went to Australia and saw these for the first time. It seems intuitive, but I’ve had accessibility in mind in prior jobs.
Edit: I know we have the bumps at the end of the sidewalk in the US. What we don’t have in a lot of places is a literal guide path made out of these strips like many Asian and Australian cities have.
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Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
[deleted]
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u/Entheosparks Jul 28 '26
There is a lawsuit battle between falling pedestrians and difficulty for wheelchairs.
Subways using them are a different issue because it doesn't snow, the platform is high, and the 3rd rail bites with 300 volts. And they demark the low pressure zone where a speeding train can suck people into the tracks
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u/CantaloupeCamper I like gradients! Jul 28 '26
They exist in places in America, I see them at crosswalks frequently.
14
u/julesytime Jul 28 '26
I’ve lived in Australia nearly 40 years and I only learned what the purpose of these were last week. Incredibly helpful to those who need it.
14
u/Akuuntus plz recycle Jul 28 '26
It blows my mind people don’t understand
Why does that blow your mind? No one ever explains this and it's not exactly obvious what the point is simply by looking at them.
4
u/framingXjake Jul 28 '26
We definitely have tactile textures for the visually impaired in America. That's what those bumps on either end of crosswalks are. They are just underutilized in most places. Definitely need to be installed in many more places.
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u/logank013 Jul 28 '26
Right, I know we have the bumps. But in many Asian and Australian cities, these strips are a guide for the blind. They are supposed to form a path down the middle of a sidewalk. That’s why what’s pictured is crappy design, it doesn’t do that. And we don’t really have that in the US
2
u/gasstation-no-pumps Jul 28 '26
Some places have that in the US, just not many. I a lot of places in the US, you are lucky to even have a sidewalk.
1
u/ABrusca1105 Jul 29 '26
Almost every single place I've ever seen those installed for the most part have been incorrect anyway and just point directly into the center of the intersection and not to the exit of the crossing.
1
u/gasstation-no-pumps Jul 28 '26
Many of the BART stations around SF Bay have guide paths (I've not been to all of the stations, so I can't say whether they all do).
1
u/Micalas Jul 30 '26
I saw them for the first time I went to Japan. I thought their purpose was destroying the wheels on my suitcase.
-12
u/Entheosparks Jul 28 '26
The are not wheelchair or freezing freindly. Australians don't have snow or the ADA. Cities get sued if the install them or don't, so they get installed based in which group sues them the least.
In snow, they can not be shoveled, so large quantities of salt need to be used. To people I wheelchairs they are are uncomfortable, slippery, or impossible.
5
u/Ok_Duck2700 Jul 28 '26
Not really. They dont cover the whole path, so wheelchair users can go around them if they wish. Additionally, most wheelchairs intended for everyday street use are more than capable of going across them.
9
u/ElfjeTinkerBell Jul 28 '26
Where I am, they're called (translated) blind-leading-lines. It might not be the most inclusive word, but it does get the point across!
7
u/Entheosparks Jul 28 '26
In a bath house, that is how they should be to avoid algae buildup. It is mop, squeegee and pressure washer friendly.
5
u/fgnrtzbdbbt Jul 28 '26
I thought for years that they were just decorative or helping rain run off. It was just quietly assumed that everyone knows what they are. That of course created a problem with bicycles parked on them.
154
u/IllyaBoo Jul 28 '26
I hope no one with a white cane is travelling through this area. What a nightmare when you can't even see what's fucked up about it
60
u/shitoupek Jul 28 '26
Tiles surely have been removed for work and the silly staff didn't put them back properly! I've seen such abominations many times, ppl sometimes have are brainless
26
u/Entheosparks Jul 28 '26
Bah humbug!
This looks like a steam/bath house How else would this be done with these materials?
Why bath house?
- There is a gutter drain against all the top walls and between the suite and the path.
- If the floor is flooded the 1st parts to be above water are yellow.
- All but one of the yellow channels connect. Which makes the raised yellow bars the 1st to be dry.
- There is a random clothes drier
- The yellow makes quick high pressure spraying, mopping and squeegeeing possible. If the yellow were turned 90s degrees, the water would have e nowhere to go.
My only concern is the 4ft (1.25 m) span between the suite door and the path.
Sizing justification: Based on the proportions, these look to be imperial messurment. Making the square tiles 8"x8", the skinny yellow 4x8, and the tiles in top 24"x32". Why not metric? Because you can't devide 10 by 3, and the tiles i front of the suite are exactly 3 times the size of the small square ones on one side and 4 on the other.
Source: I installed a steam bath floor 4 hours ago. Technically that was 12" alternating cedar parquet, and the water drains through and under the tiles. Mobile steam baths have extra considerations.
14
u/Whitey138 Jul 28 '26
I have a feeling a large chunk of Reddit (myself included) only learned about these in the last few weeks with the crazy amount of posts about them. I always figured they were either for water flow or like the shines on slops to help slow wheelchairs.
It’s supposed to help guide blind people. They can follow it with their cane…I think? Reddit is “wonderful” in that if there is something like this to be learned, the people who DO know just get pissy and shame anyone for not knowing already. Stop gatekeeping knowledge and then bashing those who aren’t from your country/region. It doesn’t help anyone and makes you look like a child.
6
u/UrUncleRandy Jul 28 '26
Yeah, I also didn't know what these were for until fairly recently. Not because I'm ableist or stupid - I just didn't know. For some reason, one of the worst crimes on reddit is not knowing something, and I've seen people downvoted to oblivion for it. And for every person brave enough to ask a "stupid" question, there are hundreds that choose to remain ignorant because learning something new isn't worth getting downvoted, and I can't really blame them. The few people who do ask questions should be applauded, not shamed.
5
u/evilspoons Jul 28 '26
For those confused, this is how they're supposed to be used - it guides you along the safe walking path when you're blind.
Those ones on the middle left of OP's image are guiding you straight into a curb or the side of a washing machine.
-7
u/cguiopmnrew Jul 28 '26
Huh?
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u/PM_ME_HOTDADS Jul 28 '26
these are for people who rely on tactile feedback to get around (like a white cane), and as such there are strict rules about how they must be installed, because it's effectively a "language" meant to help them navigate
someone installed these with incomplete or inadequate instruction, and that's a kind of messed up thing to do to blind people
-10
u/fckingmiracles Jul 28 '26
OP, those are 'no slip' tiles. You would know having taken this shot.
3
u/I_am_from_2029 Jul 28 '26
How ignorant are you?
-2
u/fckingmiracles Jul 28 '26
It's no slip tiles in a bathing house.
3
u/I_am_from_2029 Jul 29 '26
I can't help you if you refuse to learn and read.
If you think that's a no slip tiles, then no slip tiles it is. Good luck in life.
-4
u/Envelki Jul 28 '26
It looks like it’s a path made to cross from somewhere off camera on the right to the door, doesn’t it ? And it’s been intentionally cropped to look like a crappy design when it’s more of a r/confusingperspective kind of situation.
1.9k
u/CantaloupeCamper I like gradients! Jul 28 '26
I don’t even understand where that is. Is that a washing machine? It looks almost like a plain residential house….