Our workshop was held on Sunday, 17 August at the Vancouver Convention Centre. A series of talks was followed by scenarios on creating inclusive maps. These hands-on activities, in particular, were seen positively by attendees. Talks given covered topics as listed below.
- Understanding children’s perception of map symbols (Silvia Marinova)
- How to create story maps for educational activities? (Jesus Reyes)
- Kinetic reflective gallery activity (Romola Thumbadoo)
- Inclusive Cartography in the Brazilian Context (Carla Sena)
- Accessible web maps (Tim Sinnott)
- Accessibility design in cartography (Vanessa Knoppke-Wetzel)
The active and engaging discussion after talks and the hands-on activities had concluded revealed multiple points, which are summarized below.
- Engage with the target groups (but also other parties involved)
- Think outside of the (cartographic) box
- Avoid clutter and focus on the most important elements
- Decide on the medium before the actual design phase
- Maintain up-to-dateness of maps, whenever available
- Empower the user (agency)
- Be careful with “conventions”
- Indicate the data source (and can it be trusted?)
- “Maps for everyone” is not the same as “maps for all”
