Monday, January 2, 2012

Visionally Impaired Traveling - how useful are tactile maps?

Many of you who are reading this article are itinerant professionals. To do your job, you make daily use of your own car, public transportation, or perhaps a contracted car and driver. If you drive your own car, you probably have caches of maps in accessible places to help you plan your travel. In my car, the maps I use often are in the driver's side pocket, and the rarely used ones are nested in the glove compartment. If you are an aging baby boomer as I am, you may also keep a magnifier for reading maps. Mine is clamped on the driver's side visor, and occasionally when I drive over a bump in the road, I am startled by the magnifier dropping suddenly into my lap.

If you are blind or have low vision, your travel planning is somewhat different. Rather than reaching around your car for a road map, perhaps you plan your travel route with an electronic device that uses global positioning satellite (GPS) technology or with computer software for mapping; you may obtain phone directions or rely on a driver for route planning. If you live in a city and travel by subway or bus, you may even have a complete tactile map of the transit system as a transportation resource. In unusual situations, you may have a portable version of the tactile map that you can consult for information while traveling. The distinctive role of maps for blind travelers is the subject of Practice Perspectives this month. Following this introduction are descriptions of two projects in which tactile maps were developed to address the needs of travelers who are blind.

Jane N. Erin "Traveling by touch: how useful are tactile maps?". Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness. FindArticles.com. 02 Jan, 2012.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6836/is_5_103/ai_n31979858/pg_2/

No comments:

Post a Comment