Volume 2, No. 12. June 28, 2002
A feel
for direction
A primary desire among people with visual impairments is independence, the ability
to experience life without the constant assistance of another person. Dorney
Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania, has made a significant step forward for the
blind community in this regard with what may be the industry’s first portable
tactile park map.
“This
is one way we try to be proactive adding to our guest services,” said Chris
Ozimek, the park’s public relations manager. Other attractions have tactile
maps on large display boards, and at least one has a book similar to Dorney’s
available for review at guest relations. Dorney has three such maps—a spiral-binder
of nine 8-by-10 pages representing the eight different sections of the park
and one explanation page—that blind guests may carry with them throughout
Dorney.
Available
at guest relations, the maps require no deposit. “If they don’t bring
it back, we can get more,” Ozimek said. “That’s part of working
with the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.” Dorney approached
the association’s Lehigh County chapter with a request to do the maps,
and the Association put its creative talents and technology to work.
The tactile map is based on Dorney’s fun guide maps. Elements of the park are raised on the page and differentiated by varying textures, such as checkerboards, herring bone and solid blocks. The key is in Braille. Association staff built the tactile map on computer, then photocopied the images on a touch paper that is run through a ZY-Fuse standard heater, creating the raised images. The braille is typed out on a Juliet Embosser.
With
the maps now programmed in the Association’s computers, they easily can
be duplicated or altered. Dorney is paying for the creation of the maps; the
Coplay Lions and Lioness clubs helped the Association purchase the ZY-Fuse standard
heater.
Next
week Dorney Park will roll out another new customer service initiative, a low-tech
child locator system called Kid Track. Parents and their children are fitted
with a wristband that lists a cell phone or pager number, a security code and
a personal verification number. When children lose their parents, the park’s
security personnel will be better able to track down the separated parties and
match them up with the information on the wristbands.
212.265.0043
lvhnyc@msn.com
Click
or Treat
©2002, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved