THE END OF TACTILE MAPPING OR A NEW BEGINNING: LBS FOR
VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE
J. Rowell
Anglia Ruskin University East Road Cambridge
j.rowell@anglia.ac.uk
This paper addresses the likely
implications Location-Based Services (LBS) will have for tactile cartography
generally and visually impaired people in particular. The advent of automatic
navigation devices raises serious questions about the future of mapping for
blind and partially sighted people. Will electronic devices ultimately replace
conventional tactile maps? Will new mobile digital technology complement
existing static raised print maps? Or will wayfinding tools encourage a new
breed of user altogether, people who would otherwise eschew any representation
of geographic data? Answers to these questions are hard to find, but this paper
sets out to explore these difficult issues by asking visually impaired people,
the potential users of new navigation technology, what they think. As part of a
tactile map use survey thirty blind and partially sighted people were asked
about satellite mapping and wayfinding devices in order to establish their
awareness of the new technology, what they thought advantages of GPS were, and
how best mobile devices could be tailored to meet their explicit needs. In turn
the paper presents practical considerations about: positioning technology; the
equipment that will deliver LBS; and the multifaceted nature of spatial data
provision via electronic media; as each applies to blind and partially sighted
users. While many aspects of LBS technology are still at a formative stage,
offering a non-visual perspective might at first glance appear premature.
However this paper argues why this is an ideal time. Any input provided now,
could still be incorporated in the applications that will eventually result. As
it is essential that special user groups do not miss out on the considerable
benefits forecast for LBS, this paper also represents a clarion call for
tactile cartographers to become involved in leading research relevant to electronic
wayfinding devices that that will help influence their design, and for
developers to listen to what a potentially large user group has to say. On the
basis of user responses, known habits of tactile map users, and general
observations about tactile cartography that have begun to emerge from both
historical analysis of tactile maps and surveys of map producers, some
tentative conclusions about the specific requirements of visually impaired
people are drawn. Cautious answers to the questions posed about what the future
holds for tactile mapping are also made.