The PolicyViz Podcast Beyond the Visual: How Tactile Maps Expand Data Accessibility
Nov 12, 2025
Vincent van Altena, a senior consultant in cartography, and Jakub Wabiński, a researcher in geodesy, delve into the world of tactile mapping. They discuss innovative designs that make maps accessible to people with visual impairments. Insights include balancing tactile and multisensory elements for improved usability, the importance of user-centered design, and real-world applications in museums and public spaces. They also touch on the challenges of scaling inclusive practices and share exciting projects from their new book, 'Tactile Mapping,' aimed at enhancing data accessibility.
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Design For The Edges
- Designing for edge users yields broader accessibility gains for everyone.
- Vincent and Jakub argue that catering to the outer 20% often covers the middle 80%.
Touch Has Far Lower Resolution
- Fingertip haptic resolution is roughly ten times lower than vision, forcing simplification.
- Jakob stresses tactile designs must be larger or far simpler to reduce cognitive load.
Use Multisensory Encoding
- Multisensory design (touch, residual vision, audio, vibration) improves usability for diverse users.
- Vincent notes combining haptic and visual variables makes maps usable for blind and partially sighted people.
