By Maggie Menderski for The State Journal-Register
CHATHAM — Rasha Said saw a problem with navigation.
The issue was just that: an emphasis on sight.
Undetectable braille signs plastered to the walls may have been the norm before the technology boom, but Said said today the information lag for the visually impaired is unacceptable.
Most people can walk through a shopping mall and see signs identifying the food court, the closest bathroom and the nearest exit. They can read posters advertising a sale at a department store or a lunch special at a restaurant. Meanwhile, the visually impaired miss out on those instructions and directions and the general convenience. Canes can’t read signs, and neither can guide dogs.
“They’re not disabled; you just didn’t provide the information to them,” Said said. “You just provided it to people who see. There is audio now. You have the medium now.”
Said launched her company, Sensible Innovations, last summer to implement audio solutions into everyday life and to close that information gap for the visually impaired. Said will pilot the technology at Glenwood High School this April. The program uses an app called AWARE and beacon technology to prompt smartphones to automatically offer information as they pass different points in a building.
