Getting around Chicago via mass transit can be frustrating for any of us, but imagine what it’s like for people who are legally blind. Visually impaired sound artist, rock musician, and recording engineer Andy Slater offered to share his experiences navigating the city on public transportation and floated some ideas to improve transportation access for folks with disabilities.
“There’s a layer over my vision like snow from an old TV,” he says. “It’s this strange mix between a sort of neon purple and these black dots that kind of move around.”
“If I have to transfer to another train line where there’s no direct transfer, or if I have to leave the station, I generally don’t bother because that’s a huge pain in the ass even if there’s [a customer assistant] there to help me,” he says.
Slater’s proud that he’s done his part to make the el a little more accessible for himself and other blind riders. During the buggy launch of the Ventra payment system, he realized that the fare card vending machines, which offer audible cues for payment, would state the balance on a customer’s card, but wouldn’t tell you whether it was a positive or negative sum. Roughly three months after he called Ventra and the CTA about the problem, he noticed it had been fixed.
Despite his severe visual impairment, Slater has become relatively comfortable navigating the physical aspects of our city’s transportation system. “The biggest concern I have as a passenger is other passengers,” he says.”
“I’m just a dude who wants to live life without ignorant, aggressive people interrupting me,” he states in the intro.
