Barrier-Free (Accessible) Triangle Pencil Quiz: The Secret of Stationery Everyone Can Use Easily

Hello, elementary school students around the world! I teach barrier-free (accessible) design and classes for elementary and junior high school students in Japan. I’m writing this article to share information about barrier-free design in Japan with all of you overseas. Let’s use this information about barrier-free design in Japan as a starting point to think about accessibility in your own country!

Barrier-free (accessible) design means creating things that are easy for everyone to use. It’s not just for people with disabilities or the elderly – it’s actually convenient for everyone! Today, we’ll learn how barrier-free thinking is used in stationery for small children and people who have difficulty using their hands.

Are you ready? Here’s the quiz:

Question: Triangle pencils for young children are [　　] to make them easy to grip.

Do you know the answer? Let’s see!

Answer: Made thicker

Triangle pencils for young children have thicker shafts so they’re easier to grip with small hands. This helps children hold the pencil steadily when they start learning to write. The thick shaft also helps improve writing skills.

There are many more clever features in these triangle pencils:

1. The three sides of the shaft are color-coded. This makes it easy to see where to place your fingers.
2. They can be used by both left-handed and right-handed people.
3. Children can check for themselves if they’re holding the pencil correctly by looking at the colors.
4. The pencils come in lengths suitable for children’s hands and different lead hardnesses for easy writing.
5. The colors are chosen so that people with different types of color vision can all tell the difference between the three sides.

Barrier-free design is important all over the world. The United Nations’ “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” states that we should promote accessibility so everyone can participate equally in society. In America and Europe too, creating products and services that everyone can use easily is considered very important.

1. Have you seen any barrier-free designs in your country or town?
2. Are there any features in your school stationery or classrooms that make them easy for everyone to use?
3. If you could improve the triangle pencil, what changes would you make?

There are things we can all do to help create a barrier-free society:

1. Be considerate of others
2. Offer help if you see someone having trouble
3. Learn more about barrier-free design
4. Talk about barrier-free design with your school and family

Now, let’s look for barrier-free designs in your town! Just like the triangle pencils we learned about today, there must be many things designed to be easy for everyone to use. For example, you might find ramps next to stairs, tactile paving blocks, or wide entrances to shops. When you find something, think about what kind of design features it has and who it’s designed to help.

Finally, I have an important request for all of you.

This article is based on experiences and ideas from Japan. Barrier-free approaches and ideas might be different in other countries and cultures. Please talk with your family and teachers about how things are in your country. Let’s think about creating a world where everyone can live comfortably while respecting our differences. This article is not meant to force Japanese ideas on anyone. Also, always prioritize safety and act with trusted adults. Please keep this in mind.

Also, this article aims to spark interest in barrier-free design rather than provide strictly accurate information. For accurate information, please check the websites of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Japan) or relevant agencies in other countries.

For inquiries → https://lahainars.com/contact/

Note: As I’m not very good at English, please send inquiries in simple and short English sentences.