Talking Signs Anecdotes

The individual who considers himself injured has a right to resort to the laws of his country for a remedy.
Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury vs. Madison
(February 24, 1803)

There really is no argument about the necessity or utility of Talking Signs. In the examples which follow, the ability to identify buses and stops at some distance changes a blind or visually impaired person's access to our physical environment fundamentally; like text-to-speech which makes computers useable by those without sight, like a ramp for someone who uses a wheel chair, like closed captioning makes TV accessible to the deaf. So, what's there to discuss? Equal access to signage is a right, not a privilege.

Here are some anecdotes, provided both by visitors to this site and by those who have been fortunate enough -- whether in the "real" world or via a demonstration -- to witness for themselves the radical difference that Talking Signs can make. If you have an anecdote about using Talking Signs, advocating locally for the installation of Talking Signs, or the inexplicable lack of Talking Signs not only where you live, but wherever you go, please share your anecdotes and/or experiences with the world through this site by emailing UBATS' webmaster at <webmaster@ubats.org>. Together, we can -- and we must -- make a difference which leads to greater autonomy and independence for all. Alone, we are left at the mercy of those around us for what most take for granted -- the ability, at a glance, to know where one is, what is in one's immediate vicinity, and where one is headed.

The Anecdotes

• The few times I have tried talking signs I have been amazed. The power they gave me was equivalent to what someone feels with their first guide dog. The steps I saved to find a location were unbelievable and the freedom and independence I felt were immeasurable. While we do not have them in my area yet, I will fight until the day I die to see them come to my city. They are as important a tool for the blind as the white cane or the guide dog. They make me an equal in the world.
  
  
• I was in the Louisville Airport looking for a gate and asked a flower-bearing person if he might show me where the gate was. He told me he was here to ask for contributions, not to help. I responded in anger, you know? I was looking for a taxi and ended up getting in a car which turned out to be a police car, and the guy wouldn't talk! I got pretty scared by that. When you're looking for help, how many people would you pass before you found somebody suitable to ask. I have to ask anybody I hear, and that puts me in a much riskier position. Well, the technology exists now for blind people to have a safer and easier time of it.
  
  
• If you can get directions easily by simply looking around until you find them, then suddenly places become more welcoming and you are more likely to give it a try. There is a ripple effect from greater access, whether it is a curb ramp for somebody in a chair who now has the city as their oyster, or whether it is the simple information which heads you in the right direction or heads you to a specific destination.
  
  
• If I took down the signs in Heathrow Airport, all except for you English people, the rest of you would be lost. You would not know which way to go to the bathroom or to the Tube, or the baggage claim area, because Heathrow is a massive, congested place of confusion. That's all that we are demonstrating: signs give us equal access. It's nice to walk along the street and know that I want to choose this restaurant as opposed to the one next door -- that I want to be in the flower shop for a change and not the drug store without asking 3 or 5 people and putting myself at risk. Is signage a right or a privilege? The answer is self-evident.
  
  
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