The world of touch: an international survey of tactile maps. Part 2: design

This paper reports the findings of an international survey that collected data on production methods, techniques, outputs and design preferences among tactile map producers, designers and researchers worldwide. A number of consistencies and inconsistencies are identified and we speculate on the extent to which the current state of tactile map production is likely to meet the needs of the client population. In this second part of the report we focus on issues of map design, such as the choice of map size and format, and choice of symbols. We also report answers to a series of open-ended questions on respondents' approach to addressing user needs.