[Accessibility] Tagging traffic signals

[Lulu-Ann at gmx.de]

Hello list,
hello Nolan!

Nolan wrote: 
> Hermes, my accessible navigation platform, is getting far enough along
> that I'll likely soon be considering ways for its users to contribute to
> OSM rather than just take from it.
Cool to hear about it. Do you have a hyperlink, a podcast or any other further information about it? Are the requirements that you are working on published?
Do you have a prototype online or for download?
On which platform will Hermes work?
Is this your project? http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Hermes
Can you fill the page with some information for the OSM community?

> To that end, I'm brainstorming
> accessibility-related tags and trying to arrive at some sort of
> consensus with anyone else who might be working in this space. One of my
> main goals with this project is to not create walled gardens, and to
> have my and others' data work well together. Since the subset of those
> of us wishing to use OSM accessibly is small indeed, it seems even more
> important to standardize on non-haphazard ways of representing
> accessibility features.

Very good!
 
> Since my platform is targeted at blind/VI travelers, and since I use it
> regularly, I'm focusing on my own pain points first. The biggest one is
> traffic signals. Basically, when I arrive at an intersection, I can tell
> that there is a light but have no clue whether or not there is a
> push-button signal and, as such, whether I am expected to use it.
> Furthermore, Austin in its infinite wisdom has a smattering of both
> audible and inaudible signals, and while I can generally identify wen
> crossing is safe, I lose time determining whether I should wait for an
> audible cue or should just go when it sounds safe to do so.
> 
> Does any method for tagging such features exist? If not, can we agree on
> one that works for everyone?
> 
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Disabilities#Blind.2FVisual_impairment
> describes
> acoustic="traffic_signals", but that kind of sucks IMHO. First,
> shouldn't it be inverted such that "traffic_signals" is the key and
> describes a set of possible values?

Yes, definitely. You are citing a wiki page that is really out of date, my fault, sorry. I have corrected the link to the already existing tags that are exaclty built like you demand here.
 
> Next, this assumes that all traffic signals are audible. It doesn't
> convey the presence of a non-audible indicator that I may still be
> expected to press.

Yes, you can use the tag traffic_signals:button_operated=yes/no for this.
 
> I realize that OSM is free-form and that I can just do my own thing, but
> I'd really rather try to at least standardize, especially since I'll be
> giving users tools to send edits back to OSM. So I suggest the
> following, and if folks like it then I'll update the wiki accordingly:
> 
> traffic_signal="audible" for a node representing an intersection with an
> audible signal
> traffic_signal="visual" for intersection nodes with non-audible signals

This is close to what is already proposed. 
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:traffic_signals:sound

> Are there any other signal types that I may have omitted? The above
> assumes that all signals are visual, which I suppose could be a flawed
> assumption. :)

Yes, there are options to represent 
* an arrow pointing to the direction of a save crossing
* a minimap representing the crossing with it's lanes
* vibrating indicators for hand an floor

Can you send my a version with map data for Wolfsburg, Germany?

Regards
Lulu-Ann
-- 
NEU: FreePhone - kostenlos mobil telefonieren und surfen!			
Jetzt informieren: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/freephone