Perspectives about implementation of colour codes on maps accessible to blind people

ABSTRACT Tactile colour codes or tactile symbols were developed for communicating colours to blind people. Initially, these colour codes were designed to enable blind or visually impaired people to choose their own clothes and learn colour theory. The objective of this research is to investigate the perspectives of geoinformation professionals on the viability of implementing colour codes on thematic tactile maps using only the graphic primitive area. Thus, geoinformation professionals were invited to express their perspectives on ten colour code systems during and after the “I Workshop Usability 4 All”, which took place during the “XI Brazilian Colloquium on Geodetic Sciences”, Brazil, 2020. The results indicated that there is no consensus on which system is more appropriate for experimentation on tactile maps. However, Feelipa Color and See Color were the systems that showed the greatest potential as six participants preferred the first and five preferred the latter. This is associated with the fact that both systems were classified as relatively viable or potentially viable for implementation in the primitive area, considering the aspects of Drawing, Dimensions and Intuitiveness.