Understanding of Aviation Safety Pictograms among Respondents from Europe and the U.S.

Abstract

Conveying safety information to aircraft passengers is an important task for the designers of aircraft passenger safety information cards. Since the information must be understood by all passengers, regardless of native language or nationality, many designers use pictorial representations that are considered “culture free.” The current study investigated the comprehension of 13 pictograms from a sample of actual safety cards among participants from four language groups in Europe and the U.S. One-hundred-and-fifty students whose native languages were English (British and U.S.), French, or German, respectively, interpreted 13 pictograms. From their responses, three main conclusions can be drawn: 1. Conveying aviation safety information by pictorial means appears to be largely effective, as indicated by general comprehension levels above 85%. 2. While passengers may get the “essence” of a particular pictogram, it is often difficult for them to recognize specific details. 3. There are relatively small differences in the comprehension levels between participants from different language groups, pointing towards the “universality” of pictograms in conveying safety information. Future research needs to focus on identifying exactly which features of pictograms are most effective in conveying safety information, without introducing cultural or language biases.