Map Design Considerations for Accessibility

In August of 2015 a committee was established between multiple Government of Ontario Ministries (MNRF, MTO, OMAFRA, MOECC, CSC, MEDEI/MRI, MCSS) to investigate and provide recommendations on how to best design maps.

In August of 2015 a committee was established between multiple Government of Ontario Ministries (MNRF, MTO, OMAFRA, MOECC, CSC, MEDEI/MRI, MCSS) to investigate and provide recommendations on how to best design maps so they are accessible to as wide an audience as possible. To achieve this, it was critical to consider the challenges that persons with disabilities could have when interacting with and interpreting maps.
The document focuses on the following considerations for accessible map design:

• Contrast
• Colour
• Style and Patterns
• Font Selection
• Annotation and Labelling
• Simplicity and Consistency
• Alternative Formats and Descriptions

The document was endorsed in 2016 by the GIS in the OPS Director Manager Working Group (DMWG).
Although there are new and emerging technologies for creating maps for users with disabilities, the majority of this document is intended to assist designers creating map content for a range of users who have full sight to those with moderately low vision who do not use assistive technology.
The document does not address the technology or medium used to generate or publish the final map product, or the accessibility concerns that arise out of any technology, such as those outlined in Web Content Accessibility Guidelines published by the World Wide Web Consortium for content published on the web.
The concepts described within the document are applicable to map design, regardless of how a map is created, produced, or delivered. Consult with your Ministry's Accessibility Coordinator for assistance in these and other areas of accessibility considerations.
Additional Documentation

• Map Design Considerations for Accessibility (Word)

Status
Completed: Production of the data has been completed

Maintenance and Update Frequency
As needed: Data is updated as deemed necessary
Contact
Land Information Ontario, [email protected]

Datasets available for download

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• Digital Data and...
• MNR
• Mapping and...
• Ministry of...
• Natural Resources
• ODCSYNC
• accessibility
• accessible
• alternative access
• annotation
• base mapping
• blind
• cartography
• colour
• computer mapping
• consistency
• contrast
• design
• equivalent access
• font
• guidelines
• imagery and base maps
• inclusive
• labelling
• legibility
• legible
• map description
• mapping
• open data
• pattern
• readability
• recommendations
• regional mapping
• simplicity
• style
• thematic mapping
• topographic mapping
• typeface
• vision
• visual

Additional Info

• Maturity Level 1 (62%)
• Maturity Level 2 (69%)
• Maturity Level 3 (44%)
• Maturity Level 4 (10%)
• Maturity Level 5 (0%)
• Maturity Level 6 (0%)

Field	Value
Last Updated	March 24, 2026, 20:43 (UTC)
Created	March 24, 2026, 20:43 (UTC)
Domain / Topic Domain or topic of the dataset being cataloged.
Title Title for the Dataset.	Map Design Considerations for Accessibility
Description A description of the dataset.	In August of 2015 a committee was established between multiple Government of Ontario Ministries (MNRF, MTO, OMAFRA, MOECC, CSC, MEDEI/MRI, MCSS) to investigate and provide recommendations on how to best design maps. In August of 2015 a committee was established between multiple Government of Ontario Ministries (MNRF, MTO, OMAFRA, MOECC, CSC, MEDEI/MRI, MCSS) to investigate and provide recommendations on how to best design maps so they are accessible to as wide an audience as possible. To achieve this, it was critical to consider the challenges that persons with disabilities could have when interacting with and interpreting maps. The document focuses on the following considerations for accessible map design: Contrast Colour Style and Patterns Font Selection Annotation and Labelling Simplicity and Consistency Alternative Formats and Descriptions The document was endorsed in 2016 by the GIS in the OPS Director Manager Working Group (DMWG). Although there are new and emerging technologies for creating maps for users with disabilities, the majority of this document is intended to assist designers creating map content for a range of users who have full sight to those with moderately low vision who do not use assistive technology. The document does not address the technology or medium used to generate or publish the final map product, or the accessibility concerns that arise out of any technology, such as those outlined in Web Content Accessibility Guidelines published by the World Wide Web Consortium for content published on the web. The concepts described within the document are applicable to map design, regardless of how a map is created, produced, or delivered. Consult with your Ministry's Accessibility Coordinator for assistance in these and other areas of accessibility considerations. Additional Documentation Map Design Considerations for Accessibility (Word) Status Completed: Production of the data has been completed Maintenance and Update Frequency As needed: Data is updated as deemed necessary Contact Land Information Ontario, [email protected]
Tags / Keywords Keywords/tags categorizing the dataset.	Digital Data and... MNR Mapping and... Ministry of... Natural Resources ODCSYNC accessibility accessible alternative access annotation base mapping blind cartography colour computer mapping consistency contrast design equivalent access font guidelines imagery and base maps inclusive labelling legibility legible map description mapping open data pattern readability recommendations regional mapping simplicity style thematic mapping topographic mapping typeface vision visual
Format (CSV, XLS, TXT, PDF, etc) File format of the dataset.
Dataset Size Dataset size in megabytes.	0.11
Metadata Identifier Metadata identifier – can be used as the unique identifier for catalogue entry	89bf27af-941a-4183-9a63-6dd25de71988
Published Date Published date of the dataset.	2020-02-28
Time Period Data Span (start date) Start date of the data in the dataset.
Time Period Data Span (end date) End date of time data in the dataset.
GeoSpatial Area Data Span A spatial region or named place the dataset covers.

Field	Value
Access category Type of access granted for the dataset (open, closed, service, etc).	public
License License used to access the dataset.	Open Government Licence – Ontario
Limits on use Limits on use of data.
Location Location of the dataset.	https://ontariogeohub-lio.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/lio::map-design-considerations-for-accessibility
Data Service Data service for accessing a dataset.
Owner Owner of the dataset.	LandInformationOntario
Contact Point Who to contact regarding access?	Land Information Ontario
Contact Point Email The email to contact regarding access?	[email protected]
Publisher Publisher of the dataset.	Land Information Ontario
Publisher Email Email of the publisher.
Author Author of the dataset.	LandInformationOntario
Author Email Email of the author.
Accessed At Date the data and metadata was accessed.	2025-11-27

Field	Value
Identifier Unique identifier for the dataset.	1e8b3454b35f492cbe3f8825e1d70837
Language Language(s) of the dataset	English
Link to dataset description A URL to an external document describing the dataset.	https://ontariogeohub-lio.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/lio::map-design-considerations-for-accessibility
Persistent Identifier Data is identified by a persistent identifier.
Globally Unique Identifier Data is identified by a persistent and globally unique identifier.
Contains data about individuals Does the data hold data about individuals?
Contains data about identifiable individuals Does the data hold identifiable data about individual?
Contains Indigenous Data Does the data hold data about Indigenous communities?
Portal Type Platform type of the source portal.

Field	Value
Version Version of the datatset	None
Source Source of the dataset.	None
Version notes Version notes about the dataset.
Is version of another dataset Link to dataset that it is a version of.
Other versions Link to datasets that are versions of it.
Provenance Text Provenance Text of the data.	Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
Provenance URL Provenance URL of the data.
Temporal resolution Describes how granular the date/time data in the dataset is.
GeoSpatial resolution in meters Describes how granular (in meters) geospatial data is in the dataset.
GeoSpatial resolution (in regions) Describes how granular (in regions) geospatial data is in the dataset.

Field	Value
Indigenous Community Permission Who holds the Indigenous Community Permission. Who to contact regarding access to a dataset that has data about Indigenous communities.
Community Permission Community permission (who gave permission).
The Indigenous communities the dataset is about Indigenous communities from which data is derived.

Field	Value
Number of data rows If tabular dataset, total number of rows.
Number of data columns If tabular dataset, total number of unique columns.
Number of data cells If tabular dataset, total number of cells with data.
Number of data relations If RDF dataset, total number of triples.
Number of entities If RDF dataset, total number of entities.
Number of data properties If RDF dataset, total number of unique properties used by the triples.
Data quality Describes the quality of the data in the dataset.
Metric for data quality A metric used to measure the quality of the data, such as missing values or invalid formats.

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