Environmental design recommendations based entirely on sighted people's use and apprehension of environments frequently fall short of facilitating and supporting even the basic needs of visually impaired individuals and appear unlikely to assist the process by which they ordinarily experience surround ings. This discussion examines fundamental information needs of visually impaired individuals engaged in ordinary activities in immediate surroundings. It also explores exceptional circumstances that such individuals are likely to face in their acquisition of information and speculates about the influences such circumstances might then have on their activity. Emphasis is on the congenitally visually impaired.
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