Today's Google Doodle honors inventor Seiichi Miyake, who developed the tactile pavement that helps visually impaired people navigate street crossings and transit stations. If you've walked around a city lately, you may have noticed sections of paving with raised dots or bars, especially at transit boarding platforms or crosswalks. Miyake began developing the idea in 1965 because he wanted to create something useful for a newly visually-impaired friend. By the 1990s, they had spread to Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the U.S., the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, requires tactile paving at crosswalks where pedestrian ramps have been cut out from the curb, boarding platforms for trains, and certain other places.

Source: Forbes March 18, 2019 07:07 UTC