ICA-Proc Proceedings of the ICA ICA-Proc Proc. Int. Cartogr. Assoc. 2570-2092 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/ica-proc-1-64-2018 Accessible maps for the color vision deficient observers: past and present knowledge and future possibilities Kvitle Anne Kristin 1 2 The Norwegian Colour and Visual Computing Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, NTNU, Norway The Norwegian Research Laboratory for Universal Design, Department of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering, NTNU, Norway 16 05 2018 1 64 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This article is available from https://ica-proc.copernicus.org/articles/ica-proc-1-64-2018.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://ica-proc.copernicus.org/articles/ica-proc-1-64-2018.pdf

Color is part of the visual variables in map, serving an aesthetic part and as a guide of attention. Impaired color vision affects the ability to distinguish colors, which makes the task of decoding the map colors difficult. Map reading is reported as a challenging task for these observers, especially when the size of stimuli is small. The aim of this study is to review existing methods for map design for color vision deficient users. A systematic review of research literature and case studies of map design for CVD observers has been conducted in order to give an overview of current knowledge and future research challenges. In addition, relevant research on simulations of CVD and color image enhancement for these observers from other fields of industry is included. The study identified two main approaches: pre-processing by using accessible colors and post-processing by using enhancement methods. Some of the methods may be applied for maps, but requires tailoring of test images according to map types.