[Accessibility] seeking input on blog post for International day for persons with disabilities and OpenStreetMap

Wed Nov 25 20:28:47 UTC 2020

Dear Mikel,
dear all,

Thank you for your initial message, and for the answers from the other 
participants. It's very motivating to see these work to turn OpenStreetMap as 
a useful tool for persons with disabilities.

I lead a research team in computer science in a laboratory of the University 
Clermont Auvergne, in Clermont-Ferrand (France). It is called Compas https://
compas.limos.fr/ (website in french). See also the dedicated page on the wiki: 
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Compas.
Our research topics are centered around the design of tools for spatial 
accessibility for people with visual impairment. We are in particular at the 
initiative of two projects that are part of the OpenStreetMap world.

First of all, the ACTIVmap https://activmap.limos.fr/en/ project, funded by 
the French Ministry of Research, which focuses on the design of multimodal 
maps (tactile, sound, with haptic feedback), in collaboration with the GoeVIS 
team at the IGN, and the ELIPSE team at IRIT, as well as FeelObject (a company 
specializing in interactive devices for the visually impaired). This project 
is just getting started, but the expertise of each of the partners suggests 
interesting explorations on how to represent geographic information, and how 
to allow users to interact with it.

The other project is called OD4M, where we are working with WeGoto, a company 
dedicated to data collection for soft mobility. In this project, we are 
interested in ways to improve the soft mobility data present in OpenStreetMap. 
In particular, we are interested in data that could one day feed the ACTIVmap 
project, such as detailed descriptions of building doors, or descriptions of 
pedestrian routes, which are essential elements in describing the city for 
visually impaired users. A first dedicated contribution tool is starting to 
work, for the moment in an experimental version at https://od4m.limos.fr/.

From our point of view, the strength of OpenStreetMap is that it allows all 
the actors in a territory to share their data, whether they are local 
authorities, user associations, or individual contributors. 
It is also a way of observing and thinking about equipment, habits and 
practices in other countries, in order to facilitate such an inventory, 
particularly during discussions with decision-making authorities, to improve 
existing tools.
Finally, the universal dimension of the contributions makes it possible to 
have data that is not biased by the unique perspective of a party who would 
like to artificially enhance the value of its territory.

Best regards,

Jean-Marie Favreau

Le mercredi 25 novembre 2020, 20:50:52 CET Mikel Maron a écrit :
> Jan, Jessica, Holger (we emailed off list) -- thanks! The reception sounds
> positive so we're aiming to go ahead.
> 
> One way I would love your help is if each of you (and anyone else on list)
> could answer the question "How is OpenStreetMap useful for people with
> disabilities?" Answer in your own voice in a 2-3 sentences. You can reply
> here, reply directly to me, or edit into
> the https://hackmd.io/UrTjPdI7SKusc3neKkCmHA where we are working on the
> post. I'll then take snippets from the quotes to open up the post.
> 
> -Mikel
> 
> * Mikel Maron * +14152835207 @mikel s:mikelmaron
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Tuesday, November 24, 2020, 11:13:37 AM EST, Jan Schmalfuss-Schwarz
> <jan.schmalfuss-schwarz at tu-dresden.de> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Mikel,
> 
> i am from the faculty of computer science of the Technische Universität
> Dresden and currently we work on a project called AccessibleMaps
> (https://accessiblemaps.de/). On the one hand we want to develop tools for
> the OSM-Community to support the mapping process of buildings which are
> tagged with the Simple Indoor Tagging scheme. Additionally we address
> accessibility features and their representation in indoor maps. On the
> other hand we want to produce applications for blind, visual impaired and
> mobility impaired people. These apps should support the different user
> groups when planning work trips and use SIT from OSM. We think OSM is a
> good project to make accessibility information freely available. Your idea
> for a blog post on the 3rd December is great and we would like to ask if
> and in which way we can contribute to the blog post.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Jan Schmalfuß-Schwarz
> 
> 
> M. SC. Medieninf. Jan Schmalfuß-Schwarz
> Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Zimmer: 1062
> 
> Technische Universität Dresden
> Fakultät Informatik
> Institut für Angewandte Informatik
> Professur Mensch-Computer Interaktion
> 01187 Dresden
> 
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: Mikel Maron [mailto:mikel.maron at gmail.com]
> Gesendet: Montag, 23. November 2020 18:58
> An: accessibility at openstreetmap.org
> Betreff: [Accessibility] seeking input on blog post for International day
> for persons with disabilities and OpenStreetMap
> 
> Hello
> 
> The OSMF Communications Working Group is considering a blog post to note
> International day for persons with disabilities, and ways that the
> OpenStreetMap project creates useful data. This is part of a broader
> campaign to raise awareness of OSM in connection with current events.
> 
> We wanted to ask for input from people working on accessibility issues. Do
> you think this blog post is a good idea? Is this particular day worthwhile
> to highlight? Are the specific projects, particularly regional projects, we
> should be aware of?
> 
> Working notes are compiled here:
> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Foundation/Communication_Working_Group/
> Blogposts/2020-12_post_01
> 
> We'd also love to collaborate on writing this. Let me know if you're
> interested to get more involved too.
> 
> -Mikel
> 
> * Mikel Maron * +14152835207 @mikel s:mikelmaron
> 
> 
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-- 
Jean-Marie Favreau - http://jmfavreau.info