2. Potential Barriers and User Requirements

Contents: Potential barriers, requirements, forms of communication and support, conclusion.

People with deafblindness may encounter a wide range of barriers that affect their activities and participation. Many of these barriers arise from a lack of environmental adaptations or insufficient access to information. Examples of such barriers include:

• A lack of tactile-visual guidance aids in buildings, on public transport or along paths (e.g. tactile floor markings or guidelines).
• A lack of Braille labelling on materials such as books, menus or information signs.
• A lack of technical interfaces, such as output options for Braille keyboards on websites or in digital applications.
• A lack of Braille transcripts for video or audio material, rendering audiovisual content inaccessible.
• Communication barriers caused by a lack of tactile sign language or communication support.

As visual and auditory information is only available to a limited extent, or not at all, the sense of touch is the most important means of information acquisition, orientation, and communication for many people with deafblindness. A well-known quote illustrates the central importance of the sense of touch for people with deafblindness:

Hands are the eyes, ears, and voice of a person who is deafblind.

As hearing and sight are key senses for learning and communication, impairments in these areas can have a significant impact on language development, motor and cognitive development, and social and emotional skills – particularly in children.

Environmental factors such as a lack of support systems or insufficient accessible educational provision can further exacerbate these effects.

Forms of Communication and Support

The forms of communication used by people with deafblindness vary greatly from person to person and depend on the timing and extent of the sensory impairment:

• Speech-oriented people with deafblindness: If spoken language was acquired before the onset of deafblindness, it often remains the preferred form of communication. Some people continue to speak, even if they can no longer hear themselves.
• Sign language-oriented people with deafblindness: People who learnt sign language before losing their sight may continue to use sign language, but require tactile forms of communication to understand the signs of others.
• People who use tactile signs or the Lorm alphabet: Many people with deafblindness use tactile signs or the Lorm alphabet, in which letters are conveyed by touching the palm of the hand.
• People with hearing and visual impairments may also use reference objects, picture cards or other symbolic forms of communication to convey information.

Conclusion

Disability arises not solely from the impairment itself, but from a lack of access, communication and inclusive design of the environment. An environment that offers tactile information, visual and auditory alternatives, communication support systems, and inclusive educational and social structures can significantly reduce barriers and enable participation.