LVDC Design Guidelines For The Visual Environment | Second Draft Review Period Open

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

Tactile parking lot ramp.
Photo: Wikipedia.org

The National Institute of Building Sciences Low Vision Design Committee (LVDC) has released a second draft of Design Guidelines for the Visual Environment for public review and comment. The 30-day review period closes November 10, 2014.

The Guidelines address planning and design of a building and facility site, including features used to access the building or facility, such as walkways and pathways, stairs and ramps; interior spaces, including finish materials and fixed and moveable furniture; and lighting design, including the use of daylighting and electrical lighting. It contains chapters on general design principles; site and landscape design; and architecture, interior and lighting design. The second draft incorporates public comments received during the initial review period, which ended in April.

The Guidelines were developed by the LVDC with support from the Hulda B. and Maurice Rothschild Foundation and the James H. McClung Lighting Research Foundation. The first of its kind in the United States, the Guidelines will provide assistance to design professionals and others in accommodating a growing segment of the population who live with the spectrum of vision disorders contributing to low vision. All stakeholders are invited to provide comments on the document.

Persons interested in reviewing the Guidelines can obtain a copy on the Institute’s website. Please submit comments by using the “Track Changes” function in Word, marking up the draft or providing other written forms of comments to Stephanie Stubbs on or before November 10, 2014.