Project Journey | Holly Hill Farm Trai

The first step of developing my project was to visit Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA. Here, I learned more about how people with visual disabilities use their other senses to inform the design of my project.

I observed the braille posts at Perkins to inspire the design of my posts on Holly Hill Farm.

I thought that the best way to make a braille trail more accessible for blind people would be to gain more perspective. I met with Ana Paulin to learn about how blindness allows people to utilize their other senses.

After finalizing the design of the posts, I needed to get approval to start installation. These are the design drawings that informed what I needed to build.

After gaining approval from my Troop, Beneficiary, and Council, I was able to begin installation. First, I needed each post cut and a local construction company (Denisson) offered to cut the posts.

With each post being cut, I could use marine adhesive and gorilla glue to place the aluminum braille plates and metal text plates to both sides of the posts.

Now that all of the posts had the metal plates attached, I needed to attach the wooden support post to keep them stable. I also realized that I had to add more wood to the side of the post because of the sharp edges on the plates.

With everything constructed, I was able to assemble a small group of volunteers from my Troop to dig all the holes, place each post, and fill in with gravel.

This is the finished product: