Hi *|FNAME|*,
This is a question I get at least several times a month. Let’s say you put all the effort into creating a map for your organization, park, etc. You know you have clients who are completely blind or don’t have functional vision and the tactile map would be a great tool for them to get around independently. But if they can’t see that there is a tactile map, they will never know it existed.
The answer is in your marketing, communication and outreach.
I think it is safe to say that since most organizations don’t have tactile maps, blind people will not try to find one by default. Rather, they will ask for assistance if they need any. So it is your organization’s job to communicate this information in advance. I would say place this information wherever you can, for example:
Marketing materials
Newsletter
Accessibility page
Press releases
When blind clients arrive, they should already know about your tactile map and have an idea of where you placed it. But to be sure, you can also work with your staff to let your guests know who arrive with a white cane or a guide dog about the tactile maps.
This will not only get the maps into the hands of the people who need it, but will also help you get the word out that you care about accessibility.
There is however, one exception we found where people can find your maps without any prior information. And that is our new restroom maps. We recommend that you place it right by the ADA sign or equivalent outside of the United States. In this case, in many countries you can assume that there will be one, and it is actually used when people want to make sure they enter the right restroom. If you place the tactile restroom maps right there, they will bump into it, and probably will be surprised because it is not something you would expect at most restrooms. However, it still doesn’t hurt to put the information out there in your outreach materials.
If you would like to outfit your organization with a tactile map, please reach out.
Sometimes what we do for accessibility can help in other ways. Recently I got a request to create a replica of a hotel that burned down recently. It was an interesting project to recover photos and drawings from all different angles of the hotel that no longer exists, but we succeeded. I wrote about it here.
Not only that, but it will be made fully accessible to blind people. At least, according to an article I read on Applevis recently.
For now, I am only sharing the article for a teaser, but there is much more to uncover here, this will bring up many questions about legislation, licenses, servicing, etc. There is some legislation around this, but I am surprised that self-driving vehicles have been around for so long, we should already have a plan in place for the day when it becomes publicly available. So, it maybe that it is the policies and not the technology that will hold us back. This topic is certainly worth monitoring.
Have a great week:
Tom