Ar:OSM for the blind

Please help to translate this page to Arabic.

OSM is the map for everything and everyone, so two projects have been started to provide accessibility to the OSM services for blind and visually impaired persons.

Contents 1 How to map for the blind 2 See the map for the blind 3 I am blind - How can I help ? 3.1 You can donate your tracks 3.2 Other things one can do 4 I can see - How can I help ? 4.1 Help to work on tracks 4.2 Visual Map to display tags of special interest for the blind 4.3 Other things 5 I am a developer - How can I help? 5.1 Web applications 5.2 Symbian OS applications 5.3 Java ME applications 5.4 iPhone applications 5.5 Mac OS X 5.6 Windows applications (running on laptops/netbooks) 5.7 Windows Mobile applications 5.8 Other operating system application 6 Mailing list 7 Mapping Parties 8 Contributors 9 Projects 10 Project ideas 11 Tags / Proposals 12 Related topics

How to map for the blind

If you want to make the map accessible for blind persons, these are the things to pay attention to:

• Accuracy is important. If you estimate a POI, add FIXME=position estimated to your entry, so the next mapper will check the coordinates
• Learn to know and use the tags for the blind, see below.
• Add POIs that are of interest:
  • Public transportation stops with platforms, use tactile_paving=yes/no,
  • pedestrian crossings with and without acoustig guidance and sloped curbs,
  • pedestrian crossings with islands
  • elevators with or without braille writing or embossed printed letters
  • meeting locations of organizations of the blind and visually impaired
  • shops for optical glasses, eye doctors and hospital departments for eye diseases.
  • POIs that offer special products for the blind.
  • POIs that offer special accomodations for the blind like Cinemas with narrator, museums with acoustic / mp3-guides, braille menus, etc.
• If you add POIs, it is better to add buildings and put an exact entrance node at the entrance. Try not to add POIs as the estimated middle of a building.
• If you map house numbers with Karlsruhe Schema, do the same, add buildings with entrance nodes and add the house number to the entry node. Accurate positions of house numbers are of great interest.
• If mapping streets, add parking lanes, bicycle lanes and footways as lanes with number of lanes and/or width-tag.
• Add surface=* tag to footways - this is appreciated when a white cane (blind man's stick) is used.

See the map for the blind

There is a beta version available of a visual map with map features displayed that are of special interest to blind and visually impaired persons at

• BlindMap

note: This map is now MapJumper compatible

I am blind - How can I help ?

If you want to support the OpenStreetMap project, here is how you can do it.

You need

• GPS logger or
• Symbian cellphone with a screenreader (e.g. N80 with Nuance Talks) and Loadstone (http://www.loadstone-gps.com) or
• Windows Mobile cellphone with a screenreader (e.g. with Mobile Speak) and a logging software.

You can donate your tracks

Do the following steps once:

• Get GPSBabel for your computer operating system.
• Go to http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/new and register for an OpenStreetMap user account.

Do the following steps whenever you want to donate a track:

1. When you walk, ride or drive around with Loadstone, turn the tracking function on. Choose a filename including:
   • walk/bike/car/bus/rail
   • Start position name
   • Destination position name
   • Type of the way (residential street / footpath / motorway / rail / tram / unknown)
   • Name of the city
   • Name of the district
   • Name of the country
   • Use .nmea as file extension.
2. When at home, download the files to your computer.
3. Use GPSBabel to convert the .nmea files to .gpx.
4. Go to http://www.openstreetmap.org/traces/mine and Browse for one of the files, add the description you know from the filename and add "blindOSM" and the parts of the filename mentioned above as keywords. Click the public checkbox to make sure the other users can see your tracks! (I will publish that the tracks with "blindOSM" are collected by blind users and that other users are welcome to create streets from them.)
5. Repeat 4. for each file.
6. Find the tracks with "blindOSM" as a tag: http://www.openstreetmap.org/traces/tag/blindOSM
7. Find the information if it has been worked on your tracks here: blindOSM

Hints:

• If you collect tracks for streets that are missing in OSM, then make separate tracks for each street and put the street's name in the description.
• Walk up and down on both sides of the street to get a good result.
• Do not start the tracking function until your GPS has at least 5 satellites in view.
• You can check if somebody has worked on your tracks by using the OSM converter on the Loadstone web page.

Other things one can do

• Translate wiki pages to your language.
• Translate http://www.loadstone-gps.com/ to your language and send the files to the owners of the site.
• Get in contact with the local OSM community by searching for your city's name in this wiki.
• Collect POIs in Loadstone and name them well. It is planned to import this information to OpenStreetBugs.
• Join the discussion. Join the mailing list by sending an email to accessibility-subscribe@openstreetmap.org.
• Test navigation applications that use OpenStreetMap data. Write to the developers for accessibility improvements. Publish your testing results here in the wiki.
• If you are a developer, get in contact with Lulu-Ann - There are many ideas for small and big projects.
• Take part in the OSMtracker display resolution survey and vote for the option to support screenreaders.

I can see - How can I help ?

Help to work on tracks

Find tracks recorded by blind persons at:

• http://www.openstreetmap.org/traces/tag/blindOSM

You can help to work on them.

IMPORTANT: Please add the status here, when you have worked on the tracks: BlindOSM

Visual Map to display tags of special interest for the blind

Beta:

• BlindMap

Other things

Of course you can also do things from the list for the blind like translating wiki pages (see above).

I am a developer - How can I help?

You want to test your application if it is accessible for blind persons? Look for your operating system below.

Web applications

• Test your web application with the free screenreader Orca on linux systems (Hint: remove pulse audio for debian)

Symbian OS applications

• Offer your mobile application for Symbian OS here. There is a test license available for the screenreader Nuance Talks.

Java ME applications

• As Java ME runs on Symbian OS, see above.

iPhone applications

• Test your iPhone application on a iPhone 3GS with VoiceOver activated.

Mac OS X

Test your applications with VoiceOver running

Windows applications (running on laptops/netbooks)

• Offer your Windows application here for testing. We have blind users with laptops/netbooks willing to test.

Windows Mobile applications

• Offer your Windows Mobile application here for testing. We have a blind contributor with a Mobile Speach license on a

htc device, who can do the testing.

Other operating system application

• Start a new headline here on the wiki page. Offer your application here. We will find a way to test or help you test.

Mailing list

There is a mailing list about accessibility and OSM:

http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/accessibility Sens an email to accessibility-subscribe@openstreetmap.org to join.

See this page in other languages for the mailing lists in those languages.

Mapping Parties

Planned:

• Marburg, Germany

Took place:

• Hannover, Germany: "Park der Sinne"
• Hannover, Germany: "Landesbildungszentrum für Blinde"
• ... list your mapping party for the blind here.

Contributors

OSM-Contributors, who support this project, can add the category to their user page

[[Category:OSM_for_the_blind-Contributor|Username]] 

Projects

• HaptoRender for tactile maps
• LoroDux for non graphics pedestrian navigation (for use with a screen reader)
• Loadstone GPS tool for Symbian OS Phones for use with a screen reader
• OSM Braille True type font with OSM compatible license.
• [1] Osmarender output printed by a viewplus graphical embosser (pictures only)
• OpenVoiceNav OSM Direction tool for Visually Impaired
• WikiProject Indoor and outdoor human sized objects

Project ideas

• Import Loadstone POIs to OpenStreetBugs
• Load a .gpx track and tell the route in words
• ...

Tags / Proposals

• Phonetics
• tactile maps
• tactile paving
• schools for the blind

To do:

• traffic lights with sound (see Tag:highway=traffic_signals):
  • traffic_signals:sound=yes/no
  • traffic_signals:vibration=yes/no
• building=entrance on nodes
• automatic doors at entrances
• Public computer with equipment for visually impaired people
• Dunkelrestaurants (A restaurant that is totally dark, where blind people are the waitors and seeing people eat to learn how it is to be blind as an event.)
• (add your needs here)

Related topics

• (red-green) Color blind persons can work with OpenStreetMaps better than with Google Maps, because they contain less green.