The blind path between the able-bodied and the visually impaired also needs to be repaired
Wen | Xia Xue Yang Liyun
Editor | Yule
At the elevator entrance of an office building in Shenzhen, a pair of black sneakers stepped on the bright yellow blind alley. "Where will this blind alley take me?" As they spoke, the person in the picture took a steady step forward. Out of more than ten meters, the blind road appears forked, choose the one to the left, go forward ten meters, turn left on the blind road, go another ten meters, the blind road turns left again, the end hits the railing, followed by the downhill staircase.
In other words, this blind passage brings the person in the picture back to the starting point. "Alas, I just came up, why do you want me to go down again?"
The person who made this sigh was Zheng Rui, a visually impaired person. Taking the blind alley is something he has to experience every day, and the above plot is actually one of the more than 330 videos he posted on Douyin. On Douyin, Zheng Rui, under the name of "Blind Detective - Little Dragon Egg", has more than 100,000 fans and more than 3 million likes.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" > "blind detective" Zheng Rui</h1>
Zheng Rui is not completely blind, his eyes have a little sense of light, but they cannot recognize objects. He is a rare patient with "morning glory syndrome": the fundus of the eye is different from the flat shape of ordinary people, but resembles a blooming morning glory flower, resulting in visual impairment. This morning glory flower makes his life destined to be different from most people, he "can't see" the world clearly, but he can still interact with the world intimately through his own way.
In the video, Zheng Rui stumbled all the way on the blind lane occupied by shared bicycles; some blind lanes walked and disappeared without a trace, leaving him alone to "find the north"; he went to the hospital for medical treatment, and walked along the blind lane into the hospital with nowhere to go, so he had to go home sadly. But his world isn't always confused — he can also send WeChat, grab red envelopes, hail ride-hailing, and "watch" movies. He took his son to the Shenzhen Ferris Wheel and listened to his son describe what the sunset outside the window looked like at the top; he loved the city of Shenzhen and often shared interesting city punch points with fans... These scenes often surprise the discerning people, things they have not understood and unimaginable.
Zheng Rui is a "blind road evaluator" who personally explores where the blind road of the city takes people, and the daily life he shows is a blind road for the public and the visually impaired.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="129" > "listening" to the class</h1>
When he was less than one year old, Zheng Rui's parents found that his eyes were different from others, and when playing games in kindergarten, other children could quickly find the direction of the blocks, but Zheng Rui was very difficult. However, his parents never took the initiative to mention his vision problems to him, and they never treated him as a visually impaired child.
Like children with normal eyesight, Zheng Rui would also squeeze into the kitchen to cook with his mother when he was a child, helping to hand over pots and pans, and the reason why he could distinguish these common things in life through his sense of touch was not only due to his parents' patient professors, but also because his parents had complete trust and respect. "When I was a kid, my mom would say, 'You go and bring me the cup,' but she would never say, 'Don't move, I'll help you get the cup.'"
Zheng Rui followed his parents in the process of seeking medical treatment across the country, which was the process of understanding the world. Wherever he went, Zheng Rui touched everywhere, "Although the eyes could not be cured, I was able to 'touch' this big world when I was very young." ”
In an enlightened, optimistic family atmosphere, Zheng Rui has never closed himself off because of visual impairment. When he was a child, his mother worked in the public security bureau, and he grew up making friends with police uncles, listening to the vivid law enforcement stories in the streets and alleys, filling the vague world in his mind. This also laid the foundation for him to be good at and dare to take the initiative to communicate with people when he grows up.
After going to school, because he couldn't see the blackboard, Zheng Rui lay on the table and "listened to the lecture" with his ears, and the squares drawn by the teacher on the blackboard and the ancient poems he wrote were printed in his heart. Other students look at the teacher "writing something", he pays attention to what the teacher wants to make himself "understand". When doing homework, his mother read the problem for him, he dictated the steps to solve the problem, and then the mother ghostwrote it. With high concentration and strong mental activity, Zheng Rui's results have always been among the best.
However, in the third grade of primary school, a teacher in the class strongly suggested that Zheng Rui transfer to a blind school on the grounds that listening to the class on his stomach would affect the class style. At a young age, Zheng Rui experienced "depression" for the first time, stayed in the bedroom for a week, and finally made the first serious choice in his life: "The only person who can decide whether I go to school is myself." ”
Out of the bedroom, he returned to school firmly. Looking back now, Zheng Rui believes that it was indeed a turning point in his life. "If I had gone to a blind school, maybe I would be a blind masseuse now, but if I insist on going to a normal school, I can still take the college entrance examination."
In the end, Zheng Rui answered the questions through a magnifying glass, and in the case of not being able to paint the answer cards, he was still admitted to Shenzhen University and studied architectural design. It wasn't until his sophomore year that he learned the term "visually impaired" from his teacher and applied for a disability certificate for the first time. "I don't feel bad when I know I'm 'disabled' because I feel like I'm essentially no different from a healthy person."
Zheng Rui said: "Whose life has no obstacles? It's just that the time and way of displaying it is different. At any time, we should not frame ourselves with unwarranted definitions and feel inferior, but we can also use independent thinking to explore more possibilities. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="130" > video and was seen by more people</h1>
A clear voice broadcast prompts the elevator to reach the seventh floor, turn right out of the elevator and walk less than fifty meters, and a blind alley appears on the smooth marble floor, which is the Shenzhen Information Accessibility Research Association where Zheng Rui currently works. Founded in 2005, the agency is committed to the construction of information accessibility, providing relevant products and services for enterprises and governments.
Information accessibility means that anyone – whether able-bodied or disabled, young or old – has equal access to and use of information in all circumstances.
In this institution, Zheng Rui is responsible for the experience and evaluation of the barrier-free design of Internet products, as well as the promotion of ideas, such as training seminars for enterprises, so that more people can understand what information accessibility is and understand the real needs of visually impaired people. "In this process, we found that in fact, most people have no concept of barrier-free construction, and they do not understand people with disabilities at all."
Zheng Rui once went to an Internet company to do relevant training for executives, and at the beginning of the training, an executive pulled his throat to communicate with Zheng Rui, and even tried his best to reach his ear, which made Zheng Rui cry and laugh. "He probably had no contact with the visually impaired and didn't know how to get along with me. I just couldn't see with my eyes, but he subconsciously thought I had a problem with my hearing. ”
There are countless misconceptions like this, not out of subjective malice, but out of "ignorance." These do not understand, in fact, is the difficulty of barrier-free construction, "if you want to really promote barrier-free construction, we should first establish a correct awareness of barrier-free construction from the beginning." Zheng Rui said.
Information Accessibility Research Association Photo: Xia Xue
Zheng Rui's blind alley Photo: Xia Xue
However, these events were cancelled after the outbreak of the 2020 pandemic. Zheng Rui decided to switch to the front.
"Most people in the society have a lack of awareness of people with disabilities or even wrong, if you want to train through offline means, up to 100 people at a time, the coverage is too small; after the epidemic, everyone has focused their attention on the online, shooting videos may allow more people to see me and understand the concept of accessibility."
In May 2020, Zheng Rui released the first video, the staircase in the video is not obvious because the design color contrast is not obvious, and there is no special logo, it is easy to step on the air and fall because it is unable to distinguish the boundaries of the series. Zheng Rui's voice appeared as a narrator of the picture: "Such a staircase is very inconvenient for visually impaired people and the elderly, and a yellow warning bar should be added to the stairs." After that, he successively released many videos of unreasonable design of blind lanes in the city, and most of the comments were support and encouragement for him. Many netizens said: "You need a city error corrector like you to make the city more humane!" ”
Encouraged by fans, a month later, Zheng Rui appeared on camera for the first time without sunglasses, and "confessed" in the video that he was a blind man with only a little sense of light in his eyes. Zheng Rui told the "Finance" reporter, "Only doing barrier-free infrastructure exploration can do very little content, if you want to really discuss accessibility with everyone, you must go abroad in your real identity." ”
Since then, the style of Zheng Rui's videos has gradually become more lively, and he has also invited his family to participate together. In the video, he squatted in front of the blind road with his three-year-old son, touched the lines on it with his hands, introduced the different meanings of vertical bars representing straight, dots representing turning or prohibition, and told his son: "Don't occupy the blind road in the future." ”
Once, Zheng Rui in Shenzhen a primary school entrance to shoot a video of walking the blind road, a group of primary school students just after school, saw Zheng Rui holding a long blind cane, they curiously surrounded him and asked him what he was doing, Zheng Rui explained that he was a blind person after shooting vibrato, and was actually questioned by the primary school students that the actor was posing, Zheng Rui had to take out his disability certificate, and instructed them not to laugh and play on the blind alley in the future. The children listened carefully to his story and apologized to him, "At that time, my heart was very happy and warm. Zheng Rui said.
In addition to support, there are also many doubts in the comment area of Zheng Rui's video. "How can a blind man open his eyes?" " How do blind people brush vibrato?" "How do blind people respond to comments?" These doubts have provided Zheng Rui with many new video ideas. Some people questioned that blind people can't open their eyes, Zheng Rui took a video of his eyes open to show them; some people questioned that blind people can't use smart phones, zheng Rui filmed blind people using smart phones to brush vibrato, reply to the comments of the video to show them.
"Blind people can also send red envelopes?" Can you believe it? In the picture, he pointed the mobile phone screen at the camera, the finger flexibly operated, and in less than a minute, a WeChat red envelope was successfully sent.
Zheng Rui's video was filmed and edited with the help of his family and colleagues, but from the selection of the topic to the shooting angle to the editing rhythm, it was conceived by Zheng Rui. "Just because I can't see doesn't mean I can't plan, I can't think."
Zheng Rui is filming Douyin Photo: Xia Xue
Zheng Rui's video, in addition to the significance of popular science, has also opened a window for many visually impaired people and their families - the life of visually impaired people can be so wonderful. Since making the video, some fans have told him that he has a new life by learning how visually impaired people use mobile phones. A visually impaired son taught his father how to use a smartphone because he watched Zheng Rui's video, and since then, his father's life has no longer been just Peking Opera sung over and over again on the radio, but with audio novels, short videos and more.
For Zheng Rui, these changes in cognition and the improvement of life are hard-won gains and unexpected surprises.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="131" > allow people with disabilities to enjoy the dividends of technology equally</h1>
So, how exactly do visually impaired people use their mobile phones and watch videos?
The computer screen on Zheng Rui's workstation is often turned off, because he can't see, and doesn't need to look, to complete all the work.
Visually impaired people mainly rely on the screen reading function in mobile phones to obtain information. In the past software design, a lot of information was presented in the form of pictures, the information could not be read smoothly, and many icons were just a chaotic string of code behind them. Zheng Rui's job is to find these problems and feed them back to software engineers to ensure that visually impaired people can use their mobile phones more smoothly.
As a person with disabilities, Zheng Rui knows better what this group needs and communicates more smoothly with people with disabilities. The use of smart phones is to interact with it, and everyone will have different ways of interacting, may be to see, may also be listened to or touch, to ensure the normal use of everyone, you need the design of the software to meet each habit of use.
Zheng Rui is in a meeting to report on the work Photo: Xia Xue
In fact, people with disabilities are not only people with disabilities such as hearing impaired people and visually impaired people, but also the elderly, pregnant women, and even able-bodied people carrying large boxes.
Popularizing the concept of accessibility and letting more people understand the truest situation of the obstacle group is also the direction that the government and many enterprises have been working towards. The reason why Zheng Rui chose to publish videos on Douyin, in addition to the large number of users on Douyin, is also considering the friendly attitude of Douyin to people with disabilities, after Douyin launched the information accessibility optimization in 2019, visually impaired users can use the operation smoothly and barrier-free.
At present, Douyin, Watermelon Video, and Today's Headlines have officially launched barrier-free theaters. This function allows visually impaired people to understand the movie and understand the picture information in the work by supplementing the dubbing commentary and dictating the movie picture, so as to better feel the expression and body language of the characters and enjoy the fun of film art.
Accessible Cinema Source: Douyin
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="132" > Shenzhen to accelerate the construction of a barrier-free city</h1>
Shenzhen, where Zheng Rui is located, has always been at the forefront of the country in barrier-free construction.
On September 1, 2021, the Regulations on barrier-free City Construction in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") were officially implemented, benchmarking the international advanced level, proposing the concept of barrier-free cities for the first time in the country, and being the first barrier-free city construction legislation in China.
Chen Lei, director of the Supervision Office of barrier-free environment construction of the Shenzhen Disabled Persons' Federation, told Caijing that as early as 2010, Shenzhen implemented the "Shenzhen Barrier-free Environment Construction Regulations", which is two years earlier than the 2012 national -- "Barrier-free Design Code". The updated "Regulations" have a wider scope of barrier-free construction, no longer limited to infrastructure such as roads, elevators, and means of transportation, but have been macro-laid out from the conceptual level, emphasizing that barrier-free construction is the urban construction that everyone needs, "but some people are needed at a certain stage of life, and some people need it for a lifetime." Citizens should enjoy the right to live on an equal footing, regardless of whether they are high or low. Chen Lei said.
He added: "Shenzhen is adjacent to Hong Kong and has been influenced by Hong Kong in terms of accessibility concepts, so it is going fast. About 30 years ago, the north and south sides of the Luohu Bridge were one day and one place. People with disabilities in Hong Kong can't walk as soon as they cross LuoHu. After years of development, the gap has been basically eliminated, especially in the new area of Shenzhen, where the facilities are better than in Hong Kong. In the past, only Hong Kong had barrier-free subway elevators, barrier-free toilets, etc., but today, it can be seen everywhere in Shenzhen. ”
In terms of government services, Shenzhen is also actively using advanced Internet technology to help barrier-free construction. Walking into the first floor of the administrative service hall in Longhua District, Shenzhen, the Artificial Intelligence Barrier-free Guidance Office is waiting to serve the disabled, and there are also customized toolbars for the elderly and visually impaired on the independent inquiry machine next to it. "Caijing" reporter found that the toolbar can provide subtitles, sound adjustment, speed control, finger reading, auxiliary cursor, color matching adjustment and other auxiliary browsing functions. This service greatly facilitates the visually impaired to inquire about government information.
Longhua District administrative service hall barrier-free elevator
Accessibility Inquiry Service Photo: Xia Xue
Longhua District Administrative Service Hall Barrier-free Guide Photo: Xia Xue
The person in charge of the relevant business of the Longhua District Government Service Data Management Bureau told the "Finance" reporter that the official website of the Longhua District Government and the iLonghua app have been transformed from the underlying source code of the product and have barrier-free service functions. In addition to the construction of barrier-free facilities, there are also a series of barrier-free soft services for special groups of the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled, such as the "love window" of government affairs, "medical and political communication" and so on.
With the development of technology and the popularization of accessibility concepts, more people with disabilities will have the ability to use mobile phones, use the Internet to do things, work, and become not only users, but also protagonists.
"The development of the Internet has greatly helped the improvement of the social status of people with disabilities. People with disabilities dare to use the Internet to present themselves. The younger generation of people with disabilities is more confident than the previous generation, they just feel that 'I'm different from others', but not inferior. They need new channels to be seen by the world, which also promotes more able-bodied people to accept people with disabilities, and slowly understand that helping people with disabilities cannot be done in a compassionate way, but in an equal and mutually helpful way. Chen Lei said: "We must believe that people with disabilities have the ability to live like able-bodied people, and also believe that society has this soil." ”
In the future, Zheng Rui plans to continue to update on Douyin and continue to repair this blind road.