Designing universal visuotactile pictograms for orientation maps

Pictograms are used in all domains of our daily life, in orientation maps in particular. They can be depicted visually or tactually for blind people. The problem is that these existing pictograms are not standardized. The aim of this study was to develop a range of visuotactile orientation pictograms, which would be understandable by adults, children, elderly, foreigners and visually impaired people. We conducted three studies: Study 1 aimed to make sighted users (adults and children) evaluate a set of visuotactile pictograms designed initially for blind users in relation to their perceptual and cognitive processes. The results show that many of these pictograms proved to be too specific to be understandable by the general population. To complement the data, we analyzed the impact of colors on the understanding of pictograms by sighted users (Study 2). Finally, we conducted a series of creative workshops with sighted adults, blind adults and sighted children (Study 3) in order to generate a new set of universal visuotactile pictograms. This research contribution is twofold: from a methodological viewpoint, we experienced and observed the limitations of two approaches (top-down and bottom-up) to design universal pictograms. From a practical viewpoint, we created a set of universal visuotactile pictograms to make orientation maps more accessible. Relevance to industry: Both the methodological insights and the design results can be useful to practitioners. Our proposal of the new set of universal visuotactile pictograms can be used by sign makers to design accessible orientation maps.