Categorically.

I’ve sadly walked, strolled, shuffled, idled and dawdled over the same crossing several times just to test this. (Yes, using the stopwatch function on my very neat digital watch!)

The barely audible signal lasted the same time for each crossing. Now, as I can’t actually see the little man on the panel whilst I am crossing the road (and therefore have no idea how long I have left, or when the lights are about to change), I feel somewhat vulnerable. I have no idea whether the lights stay red longer. There is no way to tell, apart from risking death from the Formula1 starting grid wannabees that invariably must race away from the lights at the earliest possible moment.
I have also noticed that the location of control panels on the crossing pillars varies from location to location. There are also small ones at about waist height for some very complicated junctions.

This has been bugging me from the moment I first encountered these crossings in Liverpool quite some time ago.

If any of the designers of these things would like to chip in and comment, I’d love to know what was going through their minds.

I find these crossings far more difficult to use than Pelican crossings. I actually think they are dangerous. Far more so than the crossings thay are replacing. They seem to make far too many assumptions about the optimum conditions for effective use.
Next, I’m going t o discover where the audio blind spot is, and if the tactile alert on the buttons works. (I love that one, it lets you know when you can start crossing, but unless you’re Reed Richards, you’re not going to know when it stops vibrating!!!)

Maybe I’m being a little harsh, but I do not like these things.

SimonC

I HATE THESE CROSSINGS.

The lack of a farside indicator is really annoying. I teach my kids to look both ways before crossing the road, and I’ve got a stiff neck from looking down at the box.