The Paris metro is regularly singled out for its lack of accessibility for people with disabilities. For blind or partially sighted people, taking transport turns out to be an obstacle course, due to the lack of sound announcements.
They demand infrastructures adapted to their visual impairment. The French Confederation for the Social Promotion of the Blind and Amblyopes (CFPSAA) is demonstrating this Thursday morning in Paris, in front of the Duroc metro station to denounce the RATP network, a bad student in this area according to them.
These blind and visually impaired people in particular require a sound plan, because announcements are essential to help them find their way. Today in the French capital, only 4 out of 10 metro trains announce to passengers the name of the station served.
“I have to ask which station we are at”
Roxane is blind to get to work in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, she takes the RER then the metro. A journey of an hour and a quarter that she makes with her guide dog, Norio. Every day, she takes a segment of line 10: “It is one of the trains that are not easy for the visually impaired, because it is not vocalized”.
On board the metro, the name of the station served is not signaled by an audible announcement. This concerns a majority of trains according to the CFPSAA collective. Roxane must therefore be attentive throughout her journey: “I can only count on myself since I have to count the stations: I have five. The whole thing is not to escape at all, I can’t read. As soon as I talk to someone ‘one, I forget to count so I have to ask which station we are at“, she regrets.
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And having to ask for help contributes to the loss of autonomy, according to Roxane. So to stay focused, she has her tips: “I count with my fingers, I hold the dog’s leash… It’s easier than mentally remembering, especially in the evening when I’m a little tired after the day’s work”.
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But to an already complex situation for Roxane, are added the vagaries of the Paris metro. Beware of traps: “Sometimes we stop under a tunnel. Obviously, you have to be careful not to count. You have to hear the doorbell ring to consider it a station.”
A metro that speaks more, that’s why Roxane and the associations of blind and visually impaired people are demonstrating this Thursday morning. Bruno Gendron is the president of the Federation of the Blind of France: “We are objected to the fact that there are old lines that cannot be sounded. It is not completely fair because the driver is able to make announcements on the microphone. Without asking him for an additional charge, it is quite possible to install an automated station announcement system”.
The RATP and Île-de-France mobility plan to meet a delegation of demonstrators this Thursday.
“I have to count the stations”, blind people denounce the lack of sound announcements in the Paris metro
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