Touch the map! Designing Interactive Maps for Visually Impaired People

Abstract

Visually impaired people face important challenges related to orientation and mobility. Accessible geographic maps are helpful for travel preparation. Historically, raised-line paper maps have been used, but these maps possess significant limitations. However, recent technological advances have enabled the design of accessible interactive maps that overcome these limitations. This paper presents the development of an accessible interactive map prototype based on the cycle of participatory design. Development steps are presented for each phase in the cycle: the analysis of context and users' needs, generation of design ideas, prototyping and the evaluation of the prototype with visually impaired users. Our studies confirm a high usability and, thus, importance of these map types to the visually impaired.