TECHNICAL DOCUMENT R 2 OF THE SPANISH BRAILLE COMMISSION GENERAL CRITERIA FOR PREPARING ADAPTED MAPS FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS

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1 TECHNICAL DOCUMENT R 2 OF THE SPANISH BRAILLE COMMISSION GENERAL CRITERIA FOR PREPARING ADAPTED MAPS FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS Updated on December 2013 (Version 1)

2 First edition in English, March 2015 Comisión Braille Española, Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE). Dirección General. Dirección de Educación, Empleo y Promoción Cultural Departamento de Promoción Cultural y Braille Calle del Prado, Madrid, Spain. Edited by: Departamento de Promoción Cultural y Braille. ONCE. Dirección General. Neither the text nor the illustrations in this document may be altered without the prior written consent of the authors rights holders.

3 Page 3 of 6 GENERAL CRITERIA FOR PREPARING ADAPTED MAPS FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS This type of maps may be prepared in a number of ways, from a teacher s hand-crafted adaptation for a specific pupil or a father s for his visually impaired child, to the use of computer software that delivers relief matrices for industrialscale production. These products are integrative insofar as they contain both visual and relief information. Irrespective of the method used, the basic criteria to be followed when building maps adapted for visually impaired persons are listed below. 1) These maps include different types of high relief, information in Braille and textured areas to define some of the elements represented. 2) They contain information in enlarged print and sharply contrasting colours. 3) Their dimensions are in keeping with the object studied and on a scale at which elements can be readily recognised. The recommended dimensions for maps representing continents are 60 x 45 cm. Smaller dimensions may be used for maps depicting smaller areas, such as intra-country regions or provinces. 4) They may be oriented horizontally or vertically depending on the shape of the surface represented (a map of the Americas, for instance, would be designed to a vertical or portrait orientation, whereas one of Europe would be configured for horizontal or landscape orientation). 5) They come with a guide containing codes and data that facilitate tactile and visual interpretation. This information is provided in Braille and visual characters and identical in both. The font used for the visual characters is 16-point Arial. 6) Modified conical cartographic projection, in which intermediate latitude deformation is less intense, should preferably be used. 7) A black, 30-point Arial font is used for all the inkprint lettering on the map, including abbreviations and full text. If the background is dark, the lettering is white. Bold lettering is not used in either case. 8) The information in Braille both on the map and in the guide, including abbreviations and full text, complies with the standards established by the Spanish Braille Commission, using a dot height of mm. 9) The visual and relief elements represented coincide as far as possible: by way of example, blue lines representing rivers coincide with the

4 Page 4 of 6 respective relief, and black lines are drawn on the reliefs used to denote boundaries. 10) Any areas on the map that are not intended for study are granulated and coloured grey. Specific criteria for preparing maps with embossers and computer numerical control (CNC) software 1) Polyester resin plates are used to create the matrix from which the relief copies will subsequently be made. 2) The copies are printed on PVC membranes, a material pleasant to the touch, which is around 300 microns thick to ensure durability and convenient handling and shipping. 3) The visual information on the map is silk-screened in colour onto the PVC membrane with a plotter. 4) The relief information is thermoformed onto the coloured PVC membrane. Criteria for preparing physical maps 1) The main elements to be represented include: oceans, seas and lakes mountain ranges low lands forests, rivers and deltas deserts peninsulas archipelagos and islands capes, gulfs and straits. 2) The relief heights, referred to the 0 elevation or sea level, are shown in the table below. Oceans, seas and lakes Continents Rivers Mountain ranges 0 mm 2.5 mm 4 mm Up to 15 mm 3) The height of the relief for mountain ranges must be proportional to the actual elevation of the mountain ranges on the source maps. In Europe for instance, the Caucasian Mountains, whose elevation is

5 Page 5 of 6 approximately m, would be represented at the maximum 15-mm height, while in Asia the highest relief would be reserved for the Himalayas, where the elevation is m. 4) Rivers are represented in continuous relief 1.5 mm high and 2 mm thick, with a total height of 4 mm above the 0 elevation. 5) Seas and oceans are represented by a texture formed by lines in horizontal relief. 6) Surfaces with water (oceans, seas and lakes) are shown in light blue and rivers in dark blue. Different shades of green denote valleys, low lands, forests and woods. Mountains are depicted in brown, the higher the elevation the darker the shade used, while the highest peaks are shown in black. Yellow is used predominantly for deserts. 7) Number codes range from 2 to 99. The Braille sign for number is included in the guide but not on the map, for reasons of space. 8) Codes and their meanings are in the guide in consecutive order. Codes may represent one, or if adjacent, several elements, and may also denote their exact spatial orientation relative to the code. 9) Wherever possible, embossed maps prepared with computer numerical control (CNC) software should draw from digital terrain model (DTM) virtual maps as the source material. Criteria for preparing political maps 1) The main elements to be represented include: countries, geographic areas, regions or similar, depending on the purpose of the map capital and major cities boundaries seas and lakes, textured as in physical maps. 2) Only the aforementioned elements are shown in relief on political maps. 3) The relief heights, referred to 0 elevation or sea level, is tabled below. Oceans, seas and lakes Continents Boundaries 0 mm 2.5 mm 3.5 mm

6 Page 6 of 6 4) Boundaries are shown as dotted lines. 5) The codes used consist of a maximum of three letters, preferably the first three of the geographic area represented (country, region, province...). 6) Each geographic area is colour-contrasted from the rest. The colours primarily used are white, black, yellow, red, blue and green. 7) Codes are listed in alphabetical order in the guides. Codes may represent one, or if adjacent, several elements, and may also denote their exact spatial orientation relative to the code.