Web Accessibility Barriers in Geographic Maps

Geographic information (geo-information) is knowledge about where a place is or what there is in a certain site. Most people use geo-information in everyday life; for example, a map can be drawn to point out an address; a subway map can be interpreted to see which path to follow or to simply choose a route to go to work. Today, the Web is a mean of basic communication, perhaps the most important, and geographic information can also be transmitted through the Web. Therefore, we must ensure that the geographic information published on the Web is accessible. However, the continuing growth of technology causes people to have difficulty in interacting with applications that present geographic information. For this reason, this study presents an analysis of the barriers to web accessibility in geographic maps, explains how technologies and tools have evolved, and proposes the use of scalable vector graphics (SVG) for the implementation of accessible geographic maps.This work has been partially supported by the Prometeo Project by SENESCYT, Ecuadorian Government

Evaluating the Performance of Three Popular Web Mapping Libraries: A Case Study Using Argentina’s Life Quality Index

Recent Web technologies such as HTML5, JavaScript, and WebGL have enabled powerful and highly dynamic Web mapping applications executing on standard Web browsers. Despite the complexity for developing such applications has been greatly reduced by Web mapping libraries, developers face many choices to achieve optimal performance and network usage. This scenario is even more complex when considering different representations of geographical data (raster, raw data or vector) and variety of devices (tablets, smartphones, and personal computers). This paper compares the performance and network usage of three popular JavaScript Web mapping libraries for implementing a Web map using different representations for geodata, and executing on different devices. In the experiments, Mapbox GL JS achieved the best overall performance on mid and high end devices for displaying raster or vector maps, while OpenLayers was the best for raster maps on all devices. Vector-based maps are a safe bet for new Web maps, since performance is on par with raster maps on mid-end smartphones, with significant less network bandwidth requirements.Fil: Zunino Suarez, Alejandro Octavio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; ArgentinaFil: Velázquez, Guillermo Ángel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto de Geografía, Historia y Ciencias Sociales. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Geografía, Historia y Ciencias Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Celemin, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto de Geografía, Historia y Ciencias Sociales. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Geografía, Historia y Ciencias Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Mateos Diaz, Cristian Maximiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; ArgentinaFil: Hirsch Jofré, Matías Eberardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; Argentin

Collaborative geographic visualization

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, perfil Gestão e Sistemas AmbientaisThe present document is a revision of essential references to take into account when developing ubiquitous Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with collaborative visualization purposes. Its chapters focus, respectively, on general principles of GIS, its multimedia components and ubiquitous practices; geo-referenced information visualization and its graphical components of virtual and augmented reality; collaborative environments, its technological requirements, architectural specificities, and models for collective information management; and some final considerations about the future and challenges of collaborative visualization of GIS in ubiquitous environment

Pengembangan Aplikasi Sistem Informasi Geografis (SIG) berbasis Web untuk Manajemen Pemanfaatan Air Tanah menggunakan PHP, Java dan MySQL Spatial (Studi Kasus di Kabupaten Banyumas)

In the existing world of geographic information systems (GIS), desktop mapping has taken a critical role for managing and using spatial information for business. But desktop-based GIS application having any limitation for users. The research was conducted to develop the web-based GIS in order to manage groundwater exploration and production, preventing from uncontrolled exploration, using Java Applet, MySQL Spatial and PHP. The system development was designed by using waterfall model of system life cycle with following steps: 1) system requirements, 2) software requirements, 3) analysis, 4) program design, 5) coding, 6) testing, and 7) operation, supported by reference study, observation, and peer discussion. The result shows that by using Java Applet, MySQL Spatial and PHP, web-based GIS for groundwater management is customizable to create spatial modeling and well log modeling, user friendly, interactive, interoperable, informative, and easy to access with LAN/WAN connected PC. The application is very helpful in order to balance between groundwater supply and production, groundwater level monitoring, water quality monitoring, and groundwater user monitoring. Hopefully, the implementation of the system will help the groundwater supply conservation for sustainable development

Travel flow aggregation: Nationally scalable methods for interactive and online visualisation of transport behaviour at the road network level

Origin–destination datasets representing millions of travel desire lines and routes are common in transport planning, but visualising such datasets is challenging. Existing methods often produce illegible results, low spatial resolution, or only a relative indication of the variation of flow on each road. This paper presents a new open-source algorithm called overline along with an accompanying method, to efficiently convert disparate geographical transport data into a policy-relevant summary form. Specifically, overline aggregates many individual routes into a route network map. These vector and raster maps provide total flow counts for each road and junction and are scalable to regional or national datasets. The method is demonstrated by visualising four million routes for a publicly accessible web mapping application, the Propensity to Cycle Tool, across the whole of England and Wales

Task-based Adaptation of Graphical Content in Smart Visual Interfaces

To be effective visual representations must be adapted to their respective context of use, especially in so-called Smart Visual Interfaces striving to present specifically those information required for the task at hand. This thesis proposes a generic approach that facilitate the automatic generation of task-specific visual representations from suitable task descriptions. It is discussed how the approach is applied to four principal content types raster images, 2D vector and 3D graphics as well as data visualizations, and how existing display techniques can be integrated into the approach.Effektive visuelle Repräsentationen müssen an den jeweiligen Nutzungskontext angepasst sein, insbesondere in sog. Smart Visual Interfaces, welche anstreben, möglichst genau für die aktuelle Aufgabe benötigte Informationen anzubieten. Diese Arbeit entwirft einen generischen Ansatz zur automatischen Erzeugung aufgabenspezifischer Darstellungen anhand geeigneter Aufgabenbeschreibungen. Es wird gezeigt, wie dieser Ansatz auf vier grundlegende Inhaltstypen Rasterbilder, 2D-Vektor- und 3D-Grafik sowie Datenvisualisierungen anwendbar ist, und wie existierende Darstellungstechniken integrierbar sind

Pengembangan SIG berbasis Web Sebagai Decission Support System (DSS) untuk Manajemen Jaringan Jalan di Kabupaten Aceh Timur

This research aims to develop a web-based GIS that can be used as a decision support system in managing the road network in East Aceh district. In this case, MySQL is used as a spatial database management system and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is used as the technology to visualize spatial data in web programming. Therefore, it is expected can make geo-database application that can be distributed widely to related user. Stages of development of the system used in this study refers to the waterfall model. The order of execution of the study is divided into five stages include: early stage research, web GIS design stage, the stage of data collection, web GIS development phase and implementation phase. Data used in this study include primary and secondary data. Primary data consists of spatial and attribute data of road network (lines) and bridges (points) taken through surveys with Global Positioning System (GPS). Secondary data used include base maps derived from maps of the Rupa Bumi Indonesia (RBI) 1:25.000 scale area of East Aceh Regency. The unit of analysis used was the Locational referencing system that is defining a road network using the “node” and “section”. The results of this study showed that implementation of the SVG generated by PHP is able to produce a superior display vector and dynamic so it is easy to analyze. These capabilities combined with MySQL capabilities in spatial analysis and queries on RDBMS database is able to produce applications that are capable of supporting the activities of decision-making in the management of roads and bridges

Developing Android Mobile Map Application with standard navigation tools for pedestrians

Advanced features of modern mobile devices have made it possible to develop and use maps and map based applications for navigation purposes. Since most mobile map applications nowadays are developed for motor vehicles, there is a demand for portable pedestrian navigation applications. In this thesis the Android mobile map application with standard navigation tools for pedestrian navigation was developed, as a platform for facilitating the Lund Challenge location based demonstrator of the HaptiMap project. The pivotal aim of the Lund Challenge demonstrator is to make the sights of Lund city more accessible. The mobile phone application is being designed as a touristic, historical location based game which will also assist tourists to navigate themselves in the city. To enable exploration of historical and current sites of Lund the demonstrator should contain basic components of exploring and way finding. Prior to the development the OpenStreetMap (OSM) road network data and Swedish National Road Database (NVDB) were introduced. The main advantage of using the OSM data over the NVDB dataset is the completeness of the OSM data in terms of pedestrian paths. The datasets were imported to PostgreSQL spatially extended PostGIS database, where different routing algorithms provided by pgRouting were used for routing calculations. As the Lund Challenge demonstrator is intended not only for general users but also for visually impaired users, the problem of user navigation in the parks and open areas were also discussed and the feasibility study was performed. The limitation of the developed application was the problem of the user navigation in the parks and open areas. It is therefore necessary to upgrade the road database with possible path in the open areas and parks in order to implement this application.Advanced features of modern devices have made it possible to develop and use maps and map-based applications for navigation purposes. Since most mobile map applications are currently developed for motor vehicles, there is a demand for portable pedestrian navigation applications. In this thesis, a mobile map application was developed with standard navigation tools for pedestrians, which can be used with mobile phones running Android Operating System. The application will be used as a platform for facilitating the Lund Challenge location based demonstrator. Lund Challenge location based demonstrator is designed to make historical and actual maps of Lund more accessible and is a part of the HaptiMap project. This project aims to create maps and develop location-based services for all users, including elderly and visually impaired. The goal of the Lund Challenge location based demonstrator (also known as The Lund Time Machine) is to minimize the efforts of pedestrians, especially tourists, with finding interesting sites around the city. Initially, it is being designed as a historical location based game which will assist tourists to navigate themselves around the city. In order to further explore historical and current sites, the Lund Challenge should be enhanced with the basic features of exploration and navigation included in this thesis. The road network data was chosen from two available sources: 1) data from OpenStreetMap (OSM) project which provides free geographic data, and 2) The Swedish National Road Database (NVDB) authorized by the Swedish government, which includes all Swedish road network and selected cycle paths. For this thesis, analysis was performed on the datasets using different shortest path algorithms for routing calculations. A primary advantage of using OSM over NVDB is the completeness of data relating to pedestrian paths. As a result, the determination was made that the OSM option was more appropriate for the purpose of this thesis. Since the Lund Challenge location based demonstrator is intended for both general and visually impaired users, the problem of user navigation in parks and open areas was also discussed and a feasibility study was performed. This study revealed a limitation in the application with user navigation in parks and open areas. To resolve this, it is necessary to upgrade the road network with all possible pedestrian paths for parks and open areas

Realidad aumentada, WebGIS y storytelling para la docencia geográfica: una revisión bibliográfica

Innovación EducativaSe presenta un resumen con la bibliografía recopilada en el Proyecto de Innovación Docente, referida a realidad aumentada, WebGIS, cartografía y storytelling enfocados a la docencia en geografía y ciencias sociales afines. Todas las obras recogidas en el listado han podido ser consultadas a través de repositorios en Internet y en las bases de datos de la Universidad de Valladolid, y se han recopilado para poder ser consultadas en el ámbito de un grupo de innovación docenteDepartamento de Geografí