Written by Cassie, 2022 Cohort
After about 12 hours of flight, I successfully landed in a country surrounded by ice and snow, Canada. As a newcomer who has been in Canada for just one month, everything is fresh. Not only do I experience the cultural differences here, but I also discovered inclusive design in Canada.
Much of Canada’s public design is human-centred, which can be reflected everywhere. In Canada, it is not uncommon to see people in wheelchairs on the streets, some with disabilities, and some elderly people who have difficulty with their legs also travel in electric wheelchairs. This is all due to the strict requirements for barrier-free accessibility to the building and public facilities in Canadian regulations.
When I first took a bus, the driver suddenly left his seat at a stop and walked to the two rows of seats in the middle of the car. And then he folded up the seat to make space and then put down a special pedal at the door. At that time, I hadn’t seen this before and thought something big had happened. After the driver completed this series of operations, he returned to his seat. It was then that I saw a disabled person in a wheelchair calmly and easily getting in, sliding into that particular space, and then locking the wheelchair before the car restarted. If you are like me in Canada for the first time and see a bus driver making a big move, don’t worry, there must be people with disabilities who want to get on the bus.
In addition, what’s special is that the front of the bus is equipped with a retractable iron frame that can hold two bicycles. This is convenient for passengers who want to continue cycling after arriving at the bus stop.
There are still many small details about accessibility in Canada. This cultural difference brings more inspiration to my UX service to serve different groups of people.