Perceivability of Map Information for Disaster Situations for People with Low Vision

Digital maps have become increasingly popular in disaster situation to provide overview of information. However, these maps have also created barriers for many people, particularly people with visual impairments. Existing research on accessible maps such as tactile and acoustic maps focuses on providing solutions for blind persons to be able to perceive the information digital maps present. For people with low vision, who often rely on magnifier, good contrast and good navigation support, current digital map solutions present many challenges. In this paper we have studied two types of digital maps and their related surrounding text in the home page of disaster applications. The study focused on perceivability of the information provided by the maps. To investigate this, we have adopted a mix-method approach and performed heuristic testing combined with expert testing by a user with low vision. Based on the evaluation we have made a number of recommendations to improve the perceivability, which can further enhance the accessibility of the maps.