Tactile maps for reading by touch

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Tactile maps for reading by touch

• Museum of the American Printing House
• for the Blind, Louisville, KY

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Maps

• Maps help us to understand our world. They
  come in a variety of sizes and can show a range
  of features from the highest mountains on earth
  to the layout of a single room. By studying maps,
  we can learn about the location of countries and
  cities, the distances between locations, the
  shapes of the land, and much more--over 197
  million square miles, the total surface area of
  Earth!

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Tactile maps

• Most maps are visual. They are made to be
  read by sight.
• But there are also maps that are made to be
  read with your fingers. They are called tactile
  maps.
• Tactile means understood through the sense
  of touch.

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Tactile maps continued

• Tactile maps are designed for people who are
  blind (who have significant vision loss) and for
  people who have low vision (have some useful, but
  very limited eye sight).

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A tactile map
World At Your Fingers map with the landmass,
major mountain ranges, and lines of latitude and
longitude raised above the surface.
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Geographic features of a tactile map

• Geographic features on a tactile map--such
  as mountains, rivers, and boundaries--may be
  raised, level with, and sometimes lower than the
  maps surface. Different textures may also be
  used--such as bumpy, dimpled, or wavyto make
  features easier to identify. It is important that
  tactile maps not be cluttered, that enough space
  exists between features for easy reading by touch.

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Color, words and dots

• The maps may have color to aid low vision
  readers. Colors are chosen carefully for their
  high level of contrast (difference in
  appearance), which makes for easier reading.
• Tactile maps should include labels or
  text--words, numbers, and abbreviations in
  braille, a tactile dot code, and in large print.
  Sometimes labels and text are on separate sheets,
  rather than directly on the surface of the map.

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Materials used to make tactile maps

• Early Maps
• Different materials have been used over the
  years to make tactile maps. In the 1800s and
  early 1900s, such maps were usually carved from
  wood or embossed (pressed) in paper.

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Map of South America
The map of South America is carved in wood with
removable pieces and was created after 1870.
Mountainous areas are raised higher than other
land. Some of the map pieces are removed.
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Map of Texas
The map of Texas is embossed on paper, circa
1900. The map has raised lines to indicate land.
Rivers are pressed down (inset) into the paper.
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Other materials used to make tactile maps

• Threads and beads, for example, were glued
  onto printed (non-tactile) maps for Maria
  Theresia von Paradis (1759-1824). She was an
  accomplished Austrian musician who was blind.
  She gave piano concerts throughout Europe. Maria
  studied the tactile maps, made for her by a
  friend, to prepare for her travels. Threads,
  placed over the road lines on a map, indicated
  the route that she would be traveling beads
  represented the cities where she would be
  stopping.
• Today, most tactile maps are made of sturdy
  paper or plastic, materials that are easily
  shaped and hold up well during everyday use.

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Making maps using paper and plastic

• Paper maps are created by embossing shapes
  into paper, using a large machine called a press.
  Metal printing plates, with the design of the map
  on them, are placed into the press. A sheet of
  paper is placed between the printing plates. When
  the press closes, it forces the metal plates
  together, pushing them into the paper, embossing
  the design of the map and creating a raised
  picture.

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Map of Africa

Embossed paper maps are made
using printing plates like this one of Africa.
The plate is two sided and the paper is put in
between the plates and pressed using a press to
emboss the paper.
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Plastic maps

• Plastic maps are made by heating plastic
  material in or on a mold in the shape of the
  mapped area. When the plastic cools, it is
  removed from the mold and retains the same shape.
  Plastic maps may be rigid (hard), like the U.S.
  Puzzle Map (shown below), or they may be
  lightweight and flexible, like those in the book
  World Maps, both of which are included in this
  kit. Lightweight plastic maps can be hole-punched
  and inserted into a book cover.

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U.S. Puzzle Map

• Map is made of hard plastic and painted in
  bright colors. Each state can be lifted out.