There are 38 million blind people in the world today. Missing a key sense, they are forced to live an impaired life, but it doesn’t have to be so. Life doesn’t drastically change for the blind; it’s just many shades darker…to black. Sighted people are empathetic to the impairment of the blind. It’s easy to imagine what things would be like by just blindfolding or closing ones eyes. Many want to help and try to – but does helping a blind person cross the street really make a difference today?
A visually impaired person’s life is not as different as we imagine. Many governments have adopted Inclusive/ Universal/ Accessible design methodologies when planning and designing cities to factor in the disabled. Such actions have enabled the impaired to live respectable independent and safe lives. Yet, there are still gaps in our environments, spaces and artifacts, which are typically made for the sighted and physically enabled. The aforementioned methodologies create spaces and artifacts; but Service design is important to enable these tangible elements by creating systems around them.
Service Design can help people make the difference they want to make. A great example of service designed for a social cause is ‘bemyeyes‘. This service is a simple idea of connecting the sighted to the blind by building a ‘network of eyes’ and using an iPhone App as a connecting bridge between the two worlds. This is an enabling service bridging those who need extra help while maintaining their dignity to those who want to help at their own pace and convenience.
To show your support visit http://bemyeyes.org/ and color the dark world of the blind with your words.