Producing accessible intersection maps for people with visual impairments: an initial evaluation of a semi-automated approach

ABSTRACT

Street intersections are challenging for people with visual impairments. While tactile maps are an important support in both mobility training and independent journeys, the caseload of manual map production has made them less accessible. This paper explores the possibility of (semi-) automatically producing tactile maps for street intersections at large scales, with an initial evaluation focused on the graphic aspect of the produced maps. The automation attempts to identify acceptable default parameters and values and proposes an exploration of possible choices for potentially open decisions. It adapts the classic map production process with parameters to present the information tactilely at the intersection scale, and produces representation meaningful for PVIs and realistic for an automatic procedure, resulting in ready-to-print maps in two scales of three sizes, with different levels of details and styles. The resulting maps are evaluated by professionals involved in tactile graphics through a questionnaire to evaluate the defaults and discuss the possibility of open choices. The professionals validated the maps, and their evaluation emphasized the need to have an acceptable default while keeping some options open to cater to the diversity in the visually impaired audience.

KEYWORDS:

• Tactile maps
• visual impairment
• accessibility
• orientation and mobility
• street intersections
• map design
• automated map production

Acknowledgments

We thank the Cherchons pour Voir Lab for providing assistance in many steps of the experimental study. We thank Durga Martin for her advice on the maps and the questionnaire. We also thank the professionals for participating in the evaluation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available with the identifier(s) at https://figshare.com/s/6277c49ff7b269d42adf.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15230406.2023.2295043.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the French Research Agency ANR, in the framework of ACTIVMAP ANR-19-CE19-0005 (Computer Assisted Map Design for Visually Impaired People) project (2020–2024).