Exhibit Design Relating to Low Vision and Blindness: What Visitors with Vision Loss Want Museums and Parks to Know about Effective Communication

Tactile map of Washington

A tactile map of the National Mall displayed in the “Washington: Symbol and City” exhibition was examined and discussed:

Position and Hand physiology

The map is mounted at a slight angle from the wall that forces your hand into an awkward position. Several people actually crouched down in order to read it because it is so low. The map position issues led to an interesting discussion of the physiology of hands. One participant gave an example from an earlier exhibit where the Braille labels took into consideration hand physiology and ergonomics. The labels were mounted at a 45-degree angle away from the visitor with the Braille oriented so one read from the bottom of the label up. An additional issue relative to position was that the frame around the map interfered with reading the Braille.

Portable Braille

The quality of the Braille on the map met standards. To improve readability of Braille text, participants suggested a Braille brochure keyed to the map, perhaps by number. No one wanted to carry around large volumes but they preferred portable Braille to the pain from trying to read Braille on a vertically mounted map.

Size

People noted that if the map were larger, content would be less cluttered. Small features like the Reflecting Pool were difficult to identify despite the map key. The small size was disappointing for some because it was like reading a map in a book; for an exhibit, they wanted larger scale.

Abbreviations

Some participants felt they did not receive equivalent information available to sighted people when words on the map were abbreviated.

Maintenance

Participants disliked dirtying their fingers while reading the maps, which were dusty.

Detail

Fine details like streets felt like “wire mesh.” You could not distinguish one street from another given the scale. 

Overall

Participants disliked this exhibit because the tactile map was too small and awkwardly positioned. However, they did offer suggestions to improve the experience.