Custom-designed tactile/low vision maps for the blind and deafblind

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Features

INTOUCH GRAPHICS is a unique design company that specializes in creating quality, customized tactile maps that meet the needs of the visually impaired, blind, and mobility impaired, as well as those with normal vision. We create tactile maps for university campuses, schools for the blind, museums, hotel lobbies, downtown areas of cities, camps, libraries, and other sites. Our maps can be made to represent outdoor walking routes, campus areas, indoor floor plan layouts, fire exit routes, etc.

The simultaneous low vision and tactile features of our maps offer a cutting-edge illustration of "universal design" in practice. Any individual, whether they have 20/20 vision, low vision, or no vision, can access and benefit from these maps. Our maps can also be designed to include information for individuals who are mobility impaired, allowing users to identify and plan wheelchair accessible routes.

There is one very important feature that distinguishes us from other tactile mapmakers. We offer the highest quality maps, and deliver them in both portable and permanent installation formats for all of our projects. The installation maps are intended for indoor or outdoor placement in prominent locations of a campus or institution, while the portable maps are conveniently brought home to be studied more comfortably and carefully.

Our experience

We believe our experience in both blindness and deafblindness education and in graphic design and cartography further distinguishes us from other mapmakers for the blind. We have over 25 years of direct experience teaching orientation and mobility skills to blind and deafblind adults. This intimate understanding of the travel needs of blind and deafblind individuals is combined with over 20 years of experience custom-designing specialty maps for the blind.

Our visual and tactile symbols have been developed over a period of many years, and are based upon feedback from low vision, blind and deafblind users. Visual and tactile information is presented clearly, identifying important landmarks which can assist in orientation, and doing so in a way that avoids both tactile and visual clutter.

For mobility departments at schools and agencies for the blind

InTouch Graphics offers to design and produce tactile maps for mobility departments at residential and non-residential schools for the blind, agencies for the blind, and any other centers serving blind or deafblind individuals. We can custom-design portable tactile maps in simple-to-complex formats, facilitating important instruction in mapping concepts along a range of levels, from beginner to advanced. Mobility instructors at these sites will then have the opportunity to use professionally designed tactile maps for both on-campus and off-campus training.

    

Our portable maps are designed in swellpaper (encapsulated plastic), and intended for distribution to users as needed. Both permanent display and portable maps are labeled in Braille, utilize an easy-to-read tactile-visual symbol system, and have simultaneous large print high-contrast displays. They also come with a legend and directory of locations, and can be designed with an X/Y coordinate system for quick tactile navigation.

The symbols and textures we use have been developed from the beginning through continuous feedback from members of the blind, deafblind and low vision communities. Beyond this, because of the universal design feature, these maps can simultaneously serve as valuable sources of information for all users, with or without disability. We believe that if any public facility considers it necessary to have a map for sighted travelers, then a map should be designed that allows access for blind and low vision users as well.