Vision Health
(Globe & Mail insert)
The CNIB - a model of vision
In 1954, the Yonge Street subway line opened from Union Station to Eglinton Ave, giving Canadians the chance to travel independently.
Ironically, that same year, another pair of doors opened, with the same intent.
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) opened its BakerWood complex on Bayview Avenue in Toronto, establishing the non-profit organization as the nation's primary provider of vision loss support services for people who are blind, visually impaired or deafblind. With its rounded hallways, special colour schemes and lighting, facilities for workshops and residences, BakerWood was a remarkable achievement.
Nearly 50 years later, with most Toronto CNIB staff occupying temporary offices for the next 18 to 24 months, BakerWood is being rebuilt from the ground up in an effort that will once again set new standards for accessibility for visually impaired Canadians.
"This building will incorporate the latest technologies for people with a disability," says Jim Sanders, president and chief executive officer of the CNIB.
The new structure will combine a welcoming and inviting atmosphere with a collection of state-of-the-art features such as talking signs that direct clients as they walk. At the reception desk, visitors can request a card to wear around their necks that will trigger audio messages at key intersections as they pass through the corridors, informing them of their location and the location of client services.
For example, as visitors approach the cafeteria, the audio system will tell them the cafeteria is near and what's on the menu that day. Talking elevators will allow for easier movement among floors. And for braille readers, braille signs and raised print will also ensure smooth navigation. Varying floor textures will indicate different areas in the building, such as entrances to hallways, elevators, and stairways. Specific colours will be used to decorate the furniture, walls, handrails, and floors to maximize contrast and reduce glare, giving those with low vision the best opportunity to see their surroundings.
"It is our wish that architects regard the CNIB's future home as a model of accessibility and include similar elements when designing new buildings," Mr. Sanders says.
Funded in part through the sale of 12 of the 16 acres of land the CNIB has owned on the Bayview Avenue site, the new facility will reflect both the current thinking on design and the changing role of the CNIB itself. Founded in 1918 to help soldiers blinded in war, the organization has already experienced landmark transformations.
In 1985, its doors opened to all Canadians with a visual impairment, tripling to date the CNIB client roster to more than 105,000 people, only a minority of whom are totally blind. Today, the CNIB is a $77-million operation with 1,000 staff, generating a remarkable three-quarters of its revenues from individuals, foundations and corporations, with the balance being contributed by government.
BakerWood will come down and the new complex will rise over the next two years, but internal and social changes have been under way for some time.
Supported by 20,000 volunteers, many of them blind and visually impaired, today's CNIB focuses on providing a comprehensive list of services for people of all ages experiencing vision loss. They range from teaching someone to travel with a white cane, to low vision clinics.
The CNIB also maintains one of the world's top libraries for people who are blind and visually impaired, which is also undergoing a $33-million fundraising campaign to convert all materials to a digital format. The library project is an extension of the CNIB's core mission to enhance the independence of blind, visually impaired and deafblind Canadians.
"When you go blind, you lose the ability to read and write and to get around independently," says Mr. Sanders, born with severe glaucoma and blind since his thirties.
"When you think about what blindness really is, it's the loss of information, 80 per cent of which comes through the eyes. Now, there are viable alternatives. `High technology' was not even a term that was used when I lost my sight."
If converting the library materials and production facilities into the world's leading "accessible digital library" will cost as much as the new CNIB headquarters, it simply reinforces Mr. Sanders' point: Access to information is a critical need for thousands of Canadians that have severe vision loss.
"For the first time in my life print is no longer a barrier," declares Mr. Sanders, a determinedly optimistic, energetic man who has been both a client and employed with the CNIB for more than 30 years.
"We are going to face unprecedented vision loss in this country," says Mr. Sanders, referring to soaring increases in age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other eye diseases prevalent in an aging population.
"We can't do it alone. Our present eye-care models simply are unable to accommodate this escalation. In planning for the future, we know we are going to need increased funding and to engage other eye-care professionals to address this surge in vision loss."
