Detectable warnings usually come in the form of “truncated domes,” which is the catchy name for those “ugly, yellow bumps” of which you don’t think so highly
Outside the sliding glass doors of supermarkets. On the sidewalks next to crosswalks. At the entrances to office buildings and hotels.
What are those yellow plates on the ground with the ferocious bumpy surface that invites high heels to slip, trip, and win a date with an orthopedic surgeon?
They’re called truncated domes, and they’re intended to make it easier for vision-impaired individuals to detect a curb next to traffic.
Variations and dialects of spoken English, including what linguists refer to as African-American English, have been the subject of intensive study for years. But research on Black ASL, which differs considerably from American Sign Language, is decades behind, obscuring a major part of the history of sign language.
“If I need to identify a piece during a game, I will lightly touch the top of it and say ‘identify,’ not grasping the piece, but just brushing it,” she says. Aside from that, says Michael Aigner, who was recently her teammate in the first Online Olympiad for People with Disabilities, “Nobody can tell that Jessica is blind.”
In a typical year, more than 50 blind runners complete the California International Marathon with guides; 53 runners who identified themselves as having a vision impairment finished the New York City Marathon in 2019. Many others ran shorter races.