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Taking public transport can sometimes be a real hassle for people with visual impairments. For Viknesh Anbarasan, visually impaired since he was 4 and a half years old, a simple journey can sometimes become a long journey. Brut spent a day with him in Parisian transport.
“Not even 50% of lines are suitable. And even sometimes in the metros that are there with voice synthesis, there are bugs. So we are really on our own.“Reaching the metro entrances, managing to find one’s way and knowing the directions, finding people to help him… This is Viknesh’s daily life in Parisian public transport.
Visually impaired since he was 4 and a half years old, Viknesh’s first instinct when he wants to take public transport is to take out his phone. Thanks to a voice synthesis which reads aloud to him what is marked on his screen, the young man is able to anticipate his movements. “My phone in my hands is my first instinct before going out. I take it to look at the route I have to take. And suddenly, it allows me to be a little more independent and to manage to know how I should do to get there.”
Once in the subway, the difficulties are linked for the young boy. To orient himself, he is obliged to ask passers-by for directions. He also implemented certain techniques in order to be able to move more easily. “When the subway does not speak, we take the technique of the fingers. That is to say, each stop, let’s say I have 9 stops, I put 9 fingers, and each stop, I remove a finger.” Sometimes dependent on others to take transport, he explains the importance of getting help. “We can just ask if we need a little help, talk to us, ask us a simple, effective question… We answer yes or no afterwards, but in any case, the gesture, the action of asking the question, she is there and that is the most important thing.”