Damaged Braille signs on campus still need repair
By Elizabeth Wong
Last year the Troubadour published stories on the damaged Braille signs on campus, as well as the resulting repairs.
Christine Bartimole, a visually impaired junior studying mental health, recently checked the Braille in Cosmos and Damian Hall, as well as the Braille in women's dorm St. Thomas More Hall. Some of the signs in CODA were fixed last year after Physical Plant was contacted, but others are currently in need of more repairs. Some problems with the Braille are minor, while others could be hazardous.
Bartimole said that one sign in CODA, instead of reading "lecture hall," reads "lecture habl." On the first floor of CODA, there is a sign which is supposed to read "In case of fire use stairs." Instead, the damaged Braille reads, "h ca'a of fila -se stil." The microbiology lab reads "kicrobiology lab."
On the second floor, the sign inside Staircase 1 should have, "floor 2." However, the Braille says, "blekk ^b." Bartimole also discovered damages on other Braille signs throughout the building. In St. Thomas More Hall, Bartimole found that the Braille sign for "kitchen" has the letters "kiff," then includes the symbol for "carrot," and ends in "hen." Fortunately, the elevator of St. Thomas More has no Braille damages.
"I've never seen an elevator with a problem," said Bartimole.
On some signs outside of the rooms in St. Thomas More, the Braille is in perfect condition. On other signs, some or all of the Braille dots are either pushed in so as to make them hardly possible to read, or have fallen off. For instance, Room 136 reads "116." Room 202 has the Braille capital symbol and then a semicolon. On the wall outside a third floor bathroom, there is no sign at all. Rooms 313 and 422 are both missing all of their Braille, and others are in little better condition.
While most of the faults with the Braille come from the dots being difficult or impossible to read, a few issues come from erroneous printing of the Braille itself. For example, on the south staircase of second floor St. Thomas More Hall, what should read "Stair S" reads "stairs," because of a lack of space between "stair" and "s."
There has been some discussion about whether or not the damaged Braille is the result of vandalism or simply wearing down from years of use.
"I don't think people picked (the Braille) off," Bartimole said. "It's just that Tommy and CODA are so old that the Braille fell off."
Bartimole expressed concern and said that she had been taken out of context when previously quoted in The Troubadour. Past articles had cited both Bartimole and another visually impaired student, Brandon Olivares. Bartimole said that it seemed that the articles were used to negatively portray the campus administration, rather than assist in the issue of repairing the Braille. She said this resulted in negative reactions from students and staff alike.
"I did not want it to amount to this," said Bartimole. "You do not slam administration."
Olivares, a junior computer science major, expressed similar views.
"I'm glad they did cover (the Braille story), but I think they could have done better," said Olivares. "It does take long to get the signs done."
Bartimole also emphasized that Braille signs take a long time to repair.
"We know the university is doing the best they can," she said. "There is no rush-it's just one of those things. As long as the university does the best they can, that's perfect."
Director of Physical Plant, Joe McGurn, said that if it is the case that students are vandalizing the Braille signs, they need to stop.
McGurn said that Physical Plant cannot repair damaged Braille unless someone reports that it is needed.
"We'll do whatever we can," said McGurn. "If anyone notices that there is something wrong with the signs, please let us know. It's our goal to make the campus accessible to everyone."