Question

In India, as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which of the following plans represent(s) tactile tile(s) for assisting mobility of visually impaired persons?

• A.

  

• B.

  

• C.

  

• D.

  

Hint:

Barrier free design recognises only two tactile patterns: a dot grid for warning/stopping, and parallel straight bars for guiding direction.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A, D

Step 1: Understanding the Question.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 requires public buildings and paths in India to let a visually impaired person move without help. The tool used for this on the ground is tactile paving: raised patterns cast into floor tiles that a white cane or the sole of a foot can feel. The four options show four different tile patterns, and we must pick out the ones that are genuine tactile tiles.

Step 2: Key Concept.
The Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Free Built Environment, which back the 2016 Act, recognise only two tactile tile patterns.
The first is the warning or attention tile: a grid of raised dots (small domes). It is placed where a person must stop and think, such as at the top and bottom of a ramp or a flight of stairs, at a change in direction, or at a road crossing.
The second is the guiding or directional tile: a set of parallel raised straight bars. It is placed along a safe, continuous walking path, with the bars running in the same direction as the path, so a cane or foot sliding along them is led straight ahead.
Any pattern that is not a dot grid or a set of straight parallel bars is not a recognised tactile pattern.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation of each option.
Option (A) shows a tile with a regular grid of small circles (dots). This matches the warning/attention tile pattern, so it is correct.
Option (B) shows a tile with diagonal hatch lines running corner to corner. A diagonal line does not point along a walking direction and is not one of the two recognised patterns, so it is wrong. It is a distractor made to look like a floor finish, not a tactile guide.
Option (C) shows a tile with a 3 by 3 grid of small squares. This looks like an ordinary paver or checker floor finish, not the raised dome/dot shape the standard specifies, so it is wrong.
Option (D) shows a tile with several parallel straight vertical bars. This matches the guiding/directional tile pattern, so it is correct.

Step 4: Final Answer.
The tactile tiles are the dot grid tile (A) and the parallel bar tile (D). This corresponds to options 1 and 4.