This fall the Facilities Services will add and repair yellow guide strips for blind and visually impaired students on campus.

While some may not know what the strips are for, every day the guides serve as a vital aid for some to navigate around campus. For students with partial sight, the yellow is easy to see and helps the them identify where they are going.

“Using guide strips allows students to travel independently,” said disability management counselor and access specialist Gene Lazano. “Fortunately we are a flat campus, but a very large campus, so it is easy to get lost.”

Ron Richardson, associate vice president for Facility Services, said he noticed several hundred feet of guide strips are coming up. He said they will install strips on both sides of the walkways.

Facilities Services will do the work instead of an outside contractor because Richardson said they can work more quickly and produce better quality.

According to the Disability Center there are approximately 30 blind and visually impaired students enrolled at Sac State.

In 1991, when the guide strips were first installed, Robin Eicher, associate facilities planner and Lazano walked around campus and determined where to place the strips. The focus was to have a main path of travel easy to follow with minimum contact for students not using the strips.

Richardson is working with Eicher and Lazano to make sure the strips are being placed in the best possible places for the blind students. The guide strips will be placed on each side of the walk paths and added to other areas of the campus.

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act does not require yellow guide strips on campus, Richardson said their goal is to fix problems before they happen. They work on balancing between what should be repaired and what can be added to improve things each year.

Sally King can be reached at [email protected]