Crowds, construction work, delayed trains, loudspeaker announcements: for people with disabilities, finding their way around train stations can sometimes be a real challenge. This is shown by a study conducted by the University of Fribourg during a major construction site at Fribourg station
Stations are places with a wealth of important information: dense signage, train timetables on posters and screens, Braille signs, loudspeaker announcements, etc. In the face of this information overload, users of public transport sometimes find it difficult to find their way around, especially in the event of unforeseen events, delays or construction work. This task is often even more challenging for people with disabilities, as perceiving and interpreting information can be particularly complex depending on their abilities or needs.
Facing up to reality
Equipped with a smartphone or tablet, people with motor, sensory (visual and hearing) and cognitive impairments roamed Freiburg station from January to April 2025 and documented all the information they needed to read, hear or feel in order to find their way around. ’This allowed us to understand the strategies these people had to use to find their way in an environment that was undergoing major changes and reconstruction,’ explains Philippe Humbert, project manager at the Institute for Multilingualism at the University of Fribourg.
Reading to overcome obstacles
- Technological and digital tools: While some participants were able to successfully use the applications on their smartphones (particularly thanks to geolocation tools), for others these proved to be an almost insurmountable hurdle. For example, in order to enter the toilets at the station without a bank card, instructions had to be read that some visually impaired or cognitively impaired people were unable to implement independently
- A variety of aids: In order to find the right route, several aids often have to be consulted and sometimes complex links made between sources of information. For example, most participants had difficulty getting from the SBB platforms to the TPF bus barriers
- Confusing signage: Some information written under time pressure - for example about broken elevators - did not allow participants to find the alternative route independently. In such situations, help from station staff can be sufficient, but this was not always available
- (Un)foreseeable obstacles: SBB endeavors to anticipate certain obstacles through adapted signage, such as signs indicating detours for people with reduced mobility. However, regardless of whether construction work was taking place or not, several areas of the station remained littered with obstacles - such as a sign that stood in the middle of the sidewalk and made the passage impassable
- An inclusive approach beyond the issue of disability: the observations of people with disabilities made it possible to identify challenges in reading information that can affect all users of the station - with or without disabilities
Original ideas for improving the provision of information
Based on these observations and the discussions with the participants, Philippe Humbert, author of the study, formulated several approaches for further investigation. In his view, it is essential to ’create synergies between academic, civil society, institutional and educational actors, as well as the construction and public transport sectors’. These innovative approaches range from developing training to find and interpret information in the station, with or without a smartphone app, to employing people with disabilities in communication roles at public transport companies. All approaches and analyses are included in the report, which is available in a long and short version as well as in plain language
The Institute for Multilingualism is an independent research institute at the University of Fribourg. Researchers from the fields of linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and language teaching and learning conduct basic research on multilingualism in society, schools, the world of work and politics and work closely with national and international partners.
