Proposal:Acoustic beacon

Acoustic beacon
Proposal status:	Draft (under way)
Proposed by:	Benjak
Tagging:	man_made=acoustic_beacon, acoustic_beacon=yes, acoustic_beacon:system=*
Applies to:
Definition:	A device that emits audible signals or spoken information to assist blind and visually impaired people with orientation.
Draft started:	2026-07-19

Problem Statement

Blind and visually impaired people often rely on acoustic beacons (also known as audible beacons or auditory guiding signals) that emit a directional audible signal or spoken information when activated using a compatible transmitter or mobile application. These beacons are installed at entrances to public buildings, public transport stops, railway platforms, pedestrian crossings, elevators and other important locations to help users locate and identify them.

OpenStreetMap currently has no established tagging scheme for mapping the presence of these acoustic beacons or describing the system they use. As a result, applications for blind and visually impaired users cannot reliably determine whether a location is equipped with an acoustic beacon or how it can be activated. Furthermore, in some countries, for example Czechia, acoustic beacons are not activated automatically. Users must manually trigger them using a dedicated radio transmitter. Without knowing the location of an acoustic beacon in advance, they do not know when to activate the transmitter and therefore cannot use the system efficiently.

Proposal

The following tags are proposed:

• man_made=acoustic_beacon - identifies a standalone acoustic beacon device as a separate mapped object.
• acoustic_beacon=yes - indicates that an existing mapped object is equipped with an acoustic beacon.

The proposed tags are intended to be used on nodes. The standalone device should be mapped as a node at its exact physical location. The property tag acoustic_beacon=yes can be added to an existing mapped node representing the object or feature associated with the acoustic beacon, such as an entrance, departures boards on public transport stops, or other location where orientation assistance is provided.

Rationale

The proposed tagging scheme distinguishes between the physical acoustic beacon device itself (man_made=acoustic_beacon) and the presence of acoustic beacon functionality on an already mapped object (acoustic_beacon=yes). This follows an established OpenStreetMap practice of mapping either a standalone feature ("One feature, one OSM element") or adding a property to an existing object when appropriate. It is necessary to provide a way to map the acoustic beacon itself, as the exact location of the device is often more important than the location of the associated object. For example, tagging an entire staircase with acoustic_beacon=yes would not indicate on which side or at which end of the staircase the beacon is installed. Mapping the beacon as a separate object allows applications to guide users using its physical location.

The Key:man_made= was chosen because an acoustic beacon is a artificial object which fits the most of all top-level tags.

This proposal complements existing accessibility-related tagging schemes in OpenStreetMap. In particular, it extends the concept already used by traffic_signals:sound, including traffic_signals:sound:radio_activated=*, which describes audible signals at pedestrian crossings activated by the same type of radio transmitter used for acoustic beacons in many countries.

Similar to tactile_paving=*, which describes infrastructure helping visually impaired users navigate independently, acoustic beacons provide additional accessibility information that can improve routing and orientation for blind and visually impaired people.

The proposed tags can be used not only by accessibility and navigation applications, but also by people preparing accessible route descriptions and orientation instructions for blind and visually impaired users, where the presence and location of acoustic beacons are often important orientation landmarks.

Tagging

• man_made=acoustic_beacon to map an acoustic beacon as a separate object when its physical location is known and can be mapped independently
• acoustic_beacon=yes on an existing mapped object when the beacon is physically attached to it and its location is adequately represented by that object. For example, when the beacon is installed directly above an entrance that is already mapped, adding a separate node would provide little additional value.

It is also proposed to use the optional tag

• acoustic_beacon:system=* to identify the country-specific or technology-specific method used to activate the acoustic beacon.

It is desirable for this information to be as specific as possible, as acoustic beacon systems differ between countries and manufacturers, even when they operate on similar principles. Users need to know whether a particular beacon is compatible with the activation method they have available.

For example, Czechia, Slovakia and the German city of Dresden use beacons that can be activated using compatible radio transmitters, although users may need to configure the transmitter appropriately for the local system. Acoustic beacon system used in Poland and Ukraine rely on activation through mobile applications and Bluetooth technology. However, these systems are not necessarily compatible with other application- and Bluetooth-based systems used in countries such as France or Finland (e.g. Helsinki).

The exact values for acoustic_beacon:system=* are intentionally left open for discussion. Community feedback is requested to determine an appropriate and future-proof tagging scheme before the proposal proceeds to voting.(This line will be removed before voting for approval)

Impact on Data Consumers

This tagging scheme does not apply to audible signals at pedestrian crossings and does not replace existing tagging such as traffic_signals:sound=*. Acoustic beacons and pedestrian crossing signals serve different purposes: pedestrian crossing signals provide information about the crossing phase and permission to cross (and the direction of pedestrian crossing), while acoustic beacons provide orientation information and help users locate a specific place/object or navigate.

Proposed tags do not need to be rendered on common maps. Acoustic beacons are specialized accessibility features primarily intended for use by accessibility and navigation applications rather than general-purpose map visualization.

Features/Pages affected

The proposed tag should be added to the accessibility-related pages:

• Category:Accessibility
• Category:Visual_impairment
• Disabilities
• OSM for the blindThe documentation of traffic_signals:sound=* should include a note explaining that acoustic beacons are not part of pedestrian crossing signal tagging. This will help mappers distinguish between audible signals used to indicate crossing phases and acoustic beacons used for orientation and wayfinding.

Comments

Please comment on the discussion page.