Evaluation of Graphic Representations of Brazilian Topographic Maps for People with Disabilities in Color Perception

Abstract

Color blindness affects one in every twelve men and one in every two hundred women in the world. As color is a visual variable widely used in the transmission of information on maps, it is important that the cartographer takes into account the limitations of this audience, in order to avoid noise in communication. Law No. 10,098, of December 19, 2000, highlights the obligation on the part of the government to eliminate these barriers and always seek accessibility. Therefore, this work aimed to analyze the suitability of topographic maps produced with symbology according to the standards of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (INDE) for users with disabilities in color perception. The assessment was carried out on topographic maps in the scale of 1: 25,000 and 1: 50,000, first with the use of color vision simulators and, later, through a questionnaire applied to individuals who have or do not have this limitation. The individuals were classified into groups according to the presence or absence of the condition and their degree of familiarity with the evaluated cartographic products. The analyzes were carried out comparatively between groups of equivalent familiarity and showed strong evidence that the deficiency in color perception negatively affected the users experience in reading and interpreting the products developed from the INDE standards.