Various types of crowds visit public and commercial locations during the day. Property owners in Slovakia take all essential precautions to allow the visitors to easily wander around any area in their premises, without the risk of falling and slipping.
During the construction or renovation phase, almost all the commercial facilities need to adhere to a number of rules and regulations. One of the primary factors is to ensure the safety of visitors and customers. Tactile markers are small pieces of equipment that business owners or retailers should consider adding, as they offer a diverse range of benefits.
Different varieties of tactile indicators
Tactile pavement, like Braille, a type of written language in which elevated dots is felt with the fingertips, sends a message about the environment through touch. Such tactile paving can be used to transmit cautions and warnings, as well as to define safe zones. It gives visually impaired pedestrians a practical means to recognise their surroundings and navigate them autonomously.
1. Attention pattern
An attention pattern is made up of a series of truncated domes. Grid and offsets patterns are the two forms of attention patterns. The difference is in the way the truncated dome rows are arranged.
2. Grid pattern
Truncated domes are evenly arranged in straight rows, forming a square grid, on detectable warn plates having grid patterns. This is among the most prevalent designs found on city sidewalks in the form of visible warning plates.
They are commonly used to indicate a raised curb at the terminus of a walkway before it becomes a motor road.
3. Offset pattern
Truncated domes are arranged in rows with every other row staggered in an offset manner. Although this design appears to be comparable to the uniform grid at first glance, offset patterns express a different danger. They warn pedestrians of large gaps ahead, lowering the likelihood of someone falling through.
At train platforms, offset patterns are commonly employed. The line of truncated domes should run parallel to the platform’s end and be set back about 20 inches from the platform’s edge.
4. Guiding pattern
It is made up of curved rod-like lines or bars and is at time also called corduroy patterns. It runs either parallel or can be transversely to a path, giving two different signals.
5. Guiding pattern across the path
These lines or bars show trip risks or steps ahead when jogging or walking transversely across the path. These signs can be installed at various places like walking ramp, top or bottom part of the staircases, to warn the users to walk slowly and be careful.
6. Guiding pattern along the path
They include lines or bars that show a safe course, which needs to be followed when walking or jogging beside a path. Pedestrians can take care of their safety by staying displayed lines.
7. Lozenge pattern
Another tactile paving, the lozenge pattern has tiles with lines in the shape of lozenge and rounded edges, which are equally spaced. This style of tactile paving warns the users about the approaching street-level rapid transportation such as a tram.
These are laid at least 20 inches away from the transportation track’s edge. This allows pedestrians to get enough time to come to a safe spot.
